BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday sent a message of condolences to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev over the plane crash which killed more than 80 people on board.

　　On behalf of the Chinese government, the Chinese people and himself, Hu expressed sincere condolences and deep mourning over the deaths in the tragedy to the Russian president and the relatives of the bereaved.

　　A Russian Boeing-737 airliner went down at about 3 a.m. (2300 GMT Saturday) Sunday in a patch of wasteland on the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm in the central Ural mountains, killing at least 81 passengers and six crew members.