Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Tuesday sent a message to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, expressing his sympathy for the the casualties and damages suffered by some U.S. states in the current ice storms.

Since last Friday, waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow have so far killed at least 40 people in Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, New York, Texas and Maine, U.S. media reported.

Source: Xinhua