China forced to wait for draining of quake lake

Landslides caused by the May 12 quake have blocked the flowof rivers, forming more than 30 unstable "quake lakes" thatthreaten hundreds of thousands of people downstream.

Hundreds of troops working around the clock to defuse thethreat of the largest lake, Tangjiashan, had retreated to safeareas after opening a giant sluice to drain the water once itrises about five more metres (just over 16 ft), the People'sDaily said.

The earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan haskilled 69,019 people and displaced more than 15 million,according to official figures on Monday. The death toll islikely to rise significantly with 18,627 still listed asmissing.

The water level at Tangjiashan was 735.78 metres on Monday,only 1.24 metres higher than a day earlier, because of a lackof rain and multiple leaks on the natural dam made of mud androck, the newspaper said.

"The floodwaters may not overflow to reach the sluice untilthe morning of June 5," it quoted experts as saying.

Some 210,000 residents downstream on the Jianjiang Riverhave been evacuated to higher ground according to a contingencyplan that foresees one third of the dam bursting.

Authorities have installed remote-controlled cameras on thedam and along the sluice to monitor the waters.

Thousands of rescuers have yet to find the wreckage of amilitary helicopter that crashed on May 31 in Yingxiu, an areaof high mountains and valleys near the quake's epicentre.

There were 19 people aboard the helicopter, including 14injured quake survivors and medical workers and five crew. Itlost contact amid cloudy weather and after encountering strongturbulence on its 64th quake relief mission.

Relief workers face a daunting task in offering food andshelter to the homeless, treating the nearly 12,000 peoplestill in hospital and rebuilding ravaged infrastructure.

Tent cities and rows of pre-fabricated houses are going upall over the area and the Health Ministry says it can guaranteethere will be no epidemics.

In Mianzhu, one of the worst-hit areas, volunteer workersfrom the southern province of Guizhou have left hundreds uponhundreds of roses and other flowers for survivors at a mainintersection and at a nearby sports stadium.

"The government in Beijing has already given them food andbasic needs," said Yan, 38. "We want to give the people somespiritual encouragement. The most important thing they need iscomfort."

(Writing by Guo Shipeng; Editing by Nick Macfie and BillTarrant)