Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent a condolence message to his Singaporean counterpart S.R. Nathan on Wednesday over the fatal crash of a Singapore Airlines jumbo jet in Taiwan,

"On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I express profound condolence to you, and through you, to the bereaved family members and those who were injured," Jiang said in the massage.

The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) on the same day sent a message of condolence to Taiwan victims in Tuesday's air crash.

In a letter to the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the ARATS expressed its sincere sympathy to the crash victims, the wounded and their families.

According to latest report, more than 70 people died when Singapore Airlines jetliner, flight SQ006, crashed and burst into flames before takeoff for Los Angeles during typhoon winds at Taipei airport.

There were 159 passengers and 20 crew on board when the plane crashed.

(CIIC 11/02/2000)