Troops sent to dynamite 'quake lakes'

[FT_news]

Chinese soldiers carrying 10 kg of dynamite each arrived at the Tangjiashan lake on Monday, one of dozens formed by the earthquake, to try to blast away rubble

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MIANYANG, China, May 26 – China planned to dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large ”quake lake” on Monday, hoping to avert a new disaster two weeks after a catastrophic tremor struck Sichuan province.

The official estimate of dead from the May 12 earthquake is now more than 60,000, but that number is certain to grow as searchers account for more of the 30,000 missing.


Chinese soldiers carrying 10 kg (22 lb) of dynamite each arrived on Monday at the Tangjiashan lake, one of dozens formed by the earthquake, to try to blast away rubble, Xinhua news agency said, as heavy rain and high winds were forecast.

The lake’s barrier is in danger of bursting after the water level rose by nearly two metres on Saturday to 723 metres

(2,372 ft), only 29 metres below the lowest part of the barrier.

”The lake is now holding more than 128 million cubic metres of water and may cause a devastating flood if the barrier bursts,” Xinhua said.

Mianyang, a city near the worst-hit areas, had returned to a kind of normality, with shops open and traders and pedestrians filling streets. But much remained to remind China that absorbing the damage of the quake will take many years.