Beijing (PTI): The Indian community in Hong Kong has pitched in to contribute its mite to relief efforts in the devastating earthquake-ravaged southwest China by donating USD 89,743.

The Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations President Raj Sital presented the relief amount cheque to Lu Xinhua, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong yesterday.

"Members of the Hong Kong Indian community are deeply saddened by the loss of lives and properties as a result of the unfortunate earthquake in Sichuan province", Sital said in a statement after presenting the cheque.

Sital and L D Ralte, Consul General of India in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region visited the office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong.

"We are confident that the nation will overcome this calamity and are prepared to offer any assistance required for the mammoth relief efforts," Sital said.

The Indian community in Hong Kong has launched fund raising campaigns and would continue to donate funds to the relief and rehabilitation efforts, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The official death toll in the magnitude 8 earthquake, the deadliest in three decades in China which has left millions of people homeless, has crossed 67,000.