Washington: A German citizen has died in the massive earthquake that ravaged China's southwest region, becoming the first foreign casualty of the disaster, the Chinese embassy here said today.

Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong told reporters that the person was a "foreign expert" based in China but did not provide other details.

"As of Friday, the foreign ministry has received reports of one death  of a German citizen who was stationed in China as a foreign expert, after he or she tried to escape from the quake," Wang said.

"And besides that, the foreign ministry has received no reports of other casualties of foreigners in the disaster areas," he said.

The earthquake has claimed an estimated 50,000 lives.

Source : PTI