Dalai Lama mourns deaths in Kashmir floods

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Thursday mourned the deaths in the devastating floods in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

In a missive to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Dalai Lama expressed sadness at the loss of life and property.

He wrote that he understood that everything is being done to rescue those affected and that the relief efforts are underway. He also expressed his condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the devastating calamity.

As a token of sympathy, a donation from the Dalai Lama Trust has been offered to the Chief Minister's Flood Relief Fund, his office said in a statement in Dharamsala - the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The armed forces continued their coordinated efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, rescuing over 77,000 people so far as the toll in the state's worst flood in six decades reached 215.