China Warns Mass Evacuation Possible with Flood Threat
Possible danger from the “quake lake” Tangjiashan may lead to the evacuation of 1.3 million people. AP reports:
More than 1 million people may have to evacuate dozens of villages in a Sichuan province valley if an earthquake-spawned lake begins flooding the region, an emergency official warned Friday.
Authorities were preparing to run a drill starting Saturday to ensure 1.3 million people in the Mianyang region can get out quickly if water should break through the wall of debris that dammed a river, creating Tangjiashan lake.
Hundreds of Chinese troops were working around the clock to drain the lake, which formed above Beichuan town when a hillside plunged into a river valley during the May 12 quake that killed more than 68,000 people.
Read also: Fears of disaster after the quake on BBC.
Origin: William Foreman, AP
