Tibetan exiles offer prayers for flood-hit

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles Monday offered prayers for those who died in calamity-hit Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

An appeal has also been made to donate for the victims as a "gesture of solidarity".

"Around 1,000 exiles, monks and well-wishers held prayers for the well-being of the injured and for those who have lost their precious lives," Sonam Dorjee, head of the local Tibetan Settlement Office, which organised the prayers, told IANS.

Special prayers were held at the hill-top Tsuglagkhang temple close to the official palace of the Dalai Lama at McLeodganj near here.

An appeal has also been made to donate generously for the cause.

"The donations raised by our office would be forwarded to the chief ministers' relief funds for rehabilitation of people both in Himachal and Uttarakhand," he said.

The Tibetan government-in-exile Sunday announced to contribute Rs.300,000 to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the flood victims of Uttarakhand.

The toll in Uttarakhand is over 500, while 16 people lost lives in landslide and rain-related incidents in Kinnaur, the worst-hit district of Himachal.

The Tibetan exile administration is based in this northern Indian hill town but is not recognised by any country.