Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday sent a message of condolences to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh after a catastrophic plane crash in Mangalore in the southern Indian state of Karnataka early Saturday morning.

Wen, on behalf of the Chinese government, offered deep condolences for the victims and sincere regards to the families of those killed and to the injured.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the same day also sent a message of condolences to S. M. Krishna, the Indian external affairs minister.

A total of 158 passengers and crew members were killed when a state-run Air India Express aircraft, with 166 people on board, overshot a runway during landing and crashed near Mangalore airport early Saturday. Eight people survived.

Airlines officials said the passengers were all Indians.