Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- United Nations General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim expressed sympathies on Monday to victims of the devastating earthquake in southeast China and extended condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the disaster.

    Kerim "expresses his most sincere sympathies to all victims over the devastation caused by the powerful earthquake in Sichuan Province in China," his spokesperson said in a statement. "He is extending his deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the disaster."

    "The President extends his support to the authorities in China in their effort to mitigate the aftereffects of the earthquake and welcomes the readiness of the international community including and especially on the part of the United Nations system -- to assist the country and the people of China to overcome the immediate humanitarian as well as longer term infrastructural effects of the devastation of this natural catastrophe," the statement said.

    The quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck at 2:28 p.m. (0628GMT) Monday, according to the China Seismological Bureau. Its epicenter was located in Wenchuan county of southwestern Sichuan province.

    The quake has killed 8,533 people in Sichuan alone and many others in some other provinces, according to local government sources.