His Holiness the Dalai Lama Sends Condolences To Quake-hit Chile[Monday, 1 March 2010, 2:34 p.m.]

Debris is washed up by waves generated by a major earthquake near the epicenter in Dichato on 28 February 2010/REUTERS PHOTO

Dharamshala: His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a letter to President Michelle Bachelet of Chile on 28 February, expressing his sadness “by the loss of many lives and the extensive damage to roads and buildings as a result of the massive earthquake that struck Central Chile”.His Holiness extended his prayers, sympathy and condolences to “those who have been directly affected by this tragedy”.  The 8.8-magnitude quake that hit China Saturday killed at least 708 people and destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes, The Associated Press reported Monday.”We are confronting an emergency without parallel in Chile’s history,” President Bachelet said. She said “a growing number” of people were recorded as missing.At least 541 of the deaths were in the Maule region, about 300km south of the capital Santiago, the epicentre of the earthquake that struck central Chile early on Saturday, leaving entire towns cut off from rescuers with roads and bridges crumpled, according to AFP news agency.In the country’s second city of Concepcion, close to the quake epicentre, recovery attempts are being focused on uncovering survivors trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.