Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    MOSCOW, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia will send a plane with rescuers and humanitarian aid to China where a devastating earthquake has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the southwest region, Russian media reported Tuesday.

    "The Russian Emergencies Ministry is preparing a plane with rescuers and humanitarian aid for China," Interfax news agency cited a spokesperson of the ministry as saying.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sent a message of solace to Chinese President Hu Jintao over the disastrous earthquake and offered humanitarian aid.

    The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, rocked southwest China Monday afternoon.

    As of 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday (0600 GMT), the death toll from the earthquake had climbed to 11,921, according to the ad hoc headquarters of the disaster relief. Of the dead, 11,608 were in Sichuan.