Tibetans in Kullu hold prayers for the earthquake victims of Tibet

Kullu, April 25 (ANI): Tibetans living in Himachal's Kullu district on Sunday held prayers for the victims of the recent earthquake in Tibet.

They organised the prayer session on the birthday of the Panchen Lama, who is the highest-ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama.

"We are praying for the people who died in the Tibet earthquake. We planned both the events (Panchen Lama's birthday and prayers session) on the same day," said Ponche, a Tibetan resident of Kullu.

Official figures said that more than 2,000 people died last week in the quake that rocked Qinghai province, which is heavily populated by Tibetans.

However, the locals of Kullu claimed the number of people dead is much higher than the official figures.

"This morning, it came out to be 10,000 and some people...around 25,000 have gotten ill...seriously ill...they are admitted in the hospitals and 10,000 to 12,000 are missing till now. We do not know where they are. The Lamas (priests of high order) are looking after the abandoned children and the old people...and they are also taking out the bodies buried under the debris," said Ponche.

Most of the victims of the quake that struck the province's Gyegu town on April 14 were ethnic Tibetans. (ANI)