|
Chengdu: China has evacuated more than 150,000 people living below a swollen lake formed by this month's devastating earthquake in the mountainous province of Sichuan, state media said on Wednesday.
The Tangjiashan lake was created when landslides caused by the May 12 earthquake blocked the Jianjiang river above the town and county of Beichuan, near the epicentre of China's most destructive earthquake in decades.
The official death toll from the 7.9 magnitude quake was raised on Tuesday to 67,183, and was certain to rise further as 20,790 are listed as missing.
The quake injured nearly 362,000 people and new aftershocks toppled 420,000 houses and injured dozens on Tuesday.
Downstream from the lake, residents were evacuated overnight as engineers dug a diversion channel to prevent flooding.
|
