Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday sent a message of condolences to his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf over the massive earthquake that caused heavy casualties and damages in the South Asian country.
   
Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name, offered his condolences, through Musharraf, to the victims' families and the injured, and expressed deep grief over those who were killed in the disaster.
   
On the same day, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also extended condolences to their Pakistani counterparts Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri over the deadly earthquake.
   
A powerful earthquake, of a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale, rocked Pakistan, India and Afghanistan Saturday morning, killing at least 700 people and injuring thousands of others. The death toll is likely to rise.

Four Chinese were injured in the Pakistani city of Besham in the earthquake, according to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.

One of the four injured is still in coma, an embassy official told Xinhua, adding that the four were working for a hydro project in a tunnel when the earthquake occurred.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2005)