Engineers are digging a diversion channel to prevent flooding from the Tangjiashan lake which was formed when landslides blocked Jiangjiang river above Beichuan county, near the epicenter of magnitude 8 quake, the deadliest in three decades.
The threat of flooding from the quake comes even as aftershocks continued to rumble across quake-battered areas triggering more anxiety and fear in the temblor-weary people, millions of whom have been rendered homeless, and adding to pressure on authorities engaged in mammoth relief efforts.
Tangjiashan is one of the 35 lakes formed by the quake-induced landslides and mudflows. As it is inaccessible by road on vehicles and can only be reached by foot or air, hundreds of troops and armed police carrying dynamite have trekked there to blast away the barrier.
Two aftershocks in the disaster zone yesterday flattened 420,000 houses in the quake-shattered Sichuan province and left 63 people injured, even as the official death toll reached 67,183.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting of the State Council quake relief headquarters yestreday that handling the "quake lakes" was the "most pressing task at present", the state-run China Daily said.
In a telephonic talk, President Hu Jintao told Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, who is overseeing the quake relief work, that the relief task force must make sure that no serious problems occur in the emergencies, state run Xinhua news agency said.