French president Nicolas Sarkozy today conveyed to prime minister Manmohan Singh his nation's "sincere condolences" on the death of 158 people in the Mangalore air crash.
"As India is struck by an air tragedy near Mangalore, in the state of Karnataka, I wish to convey to you my great sadness and to offer my most sincere condolences in the name of the French people and in my own name," Sarkozy said in a letter to the prime minister.
"My thoughts also go to the families of the deceased. I would be very grateful to you for conveying to them the solidarity of France in this painful ordeal," he added.
In his message to external affairs minister SM Krishna, the French minister of foreign and European affairs Bernard Kouchner said, "I wish to offer my sincere condolences, along with all members of the government. In this ordeal, I share in the sorrow of the families of the victims."
The Air India Boeing 737-800 plane on way to Mangalore from Dubai overshot the runway and crashed at the Mangalore airport in Karnataka yesterday, killing 158 people in the first major plane crash in India since 2000.
