Non-stop diversion work in quake lake

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 05-30-2008 13:19

More than 700 rescuers continue working non-stop to dig a diversion channel around the Tangjiashan barrier lake, one of the most dangerous quake-formed lakes in Sichuan Province.

Armed police work on the mountain road toward Tangjiashan quake lake, in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 29, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

As of 7 am Friday, more than 89,000 cubic meters of rock and mud had been removed from the blockage body. 46 engineering vehicles, including excavators and bulldozers, have been airlifted to Tangjiashan. Soldiers and water resources professionals have been working non-stop despite heavy downpours that started about 10 pm on Wednesday.

Helicopters carrying fuel, food and building equipment to the site were grounded at a nearby town until the rain let up around midday on Thursday.

About a thousand soldiers have been on standby in a nearby town to carry materials to Tangjiashan if rain hampers flights again.

By 8 am Thursday, the water level at Tangjiashan had reached 730.13 meters, up nearly one and a half meters from the day before.

In the wake of the Wenchuan earthquake, landslides created 34 quake lakes in Sichuan alone, with 28 at risk of rupturing.

Editor:Xiong Qu