Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Tuesday sent a message of condolences to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao over a disastrous earthquake in China's Sichuan Province, expressing his sympathies to the quake-hit victims.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the great loss of lives and extensive damage caused by the sudden and deadly earthquake in Sichuan Province," Lee said in the letter, adding that "I would like to extend our sympathies to the people of China who are affected by the earthquake in Sichuan, and our condolences to the families of the victims."

He praised the Chinese government's "swift relief and rescue efforts", saying he is confident that under Premier Wen's "able leadership, China will be able to tackle the challenges ahead and overcome this disaster."

The prime minister added, "Singapore stands ready to help in any way possible, including through our Disaster Assistance Rescue Teams (DART)," if China thinks it will be useful to the recovery work.

He hopes that the affected regions will return to normalcy in the shortest possible time.

A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan Country, 159 km northwest of the southwest Sichuan Province's capital of Chengdu, at 14:28 PM (0628 GMT) on Monday, killing thousands of people in eight affected provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)