Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday sent a message to Cuban leader Raul Castro, offering sympathy and solicitude to the Cuban people over their suffering and damages caused by Hurricane Gustav.

In his message, Hu said he believes the Cuban people, under the leadership of the Cuban government and Communist Party, will recover soon from the natural disaster and rebuild their homelands.

Hurricane Gustav damaged some 100,000 houses, 370 schools and hundreds of kilometers of electricity and telephone cables in Cuba over the weekend. Some 467,000 people had been evacuated across the country, Cuban officials said Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2008)