"China quake lake extremely dangerous"

A huge quake-induced lake is approaching hazardous levels in China, as a ranking official says the situation there is "extremely dangerous," state media report. Multiple threats loomed at the Tangjiashan "quake lake," the China News Service reported, even though soldiers had been working for days to control the lake, now with a volume of more than 80,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. "China quake lake extremely dangerous" Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, warned at a briefing late Tuesday that one of the risks was aftershocks, which could breach the lake any time, inundating lower-lying areas. "The area still receives constant aftershocks, and especially aftershocks of a strength over six on the Richter scale could have an impact," said Liu, according to the news service. "After several measures undertaken at the lake, the situation remains extremely dangerous," the news service said, citing Liu. The lake was created when the May 12 magnitude-8.0 earthquake rattled southwest China's Sichuan province, triggering a massive landslide that blocked a river cutting through the mountainous area. Since then, officials have been watching anxiously as the lake has built up, warning it could endanger more than a million people if it were to break through the barrier. Last week hundreds of soldiers dug a channel, hoping it would help drain the lake or at least contain its growth once it reached a certain level. As of late Tuesday, the surface of the lake was edging closer to the top of the dam, reaching just 2.37 metres (eight feet) below the lowest point of the blockage, according to the China Daily website. It remained to be seen whether the water could be directed successfully into the newly dug channel, according to the paper. The death toll from China's earthquake rose on Tuesday to 69,107, with another 18,230 missing, the government said. The new toll, given by the state-run Xinhua news agency, marked an increase of 88 from the day before. As of Wednesday afternoon there was still no news on a missing rescue helicopter that crashed in mountainous terrain Saturday with 19 on board. Chinese police and soldiers blocked access to schools in the quake region Wednesday after residents reported angry disturbances by parents of dead children. The restricted access appeared to reflect growing official anxiety over increasingly public displays of anger by parents of the thousands of children killed by the May 12 quake in southwestern Sichuan province. "This is a bad thing and they don't want it publicised. They want to keep it a secret. They are getting worried," a parent, who gave only his surname Zhou due to the sensitivity of the subject, told AFP. He said his daughter was one of hundreds buried in the Juyuan Middle School near the city of Dujiangyan. Another father, who lost his daughter, 14-year-old Li Yi, also voiced frustration that he was not able to visit the site of the collapsed school. "We just want to get our daughter. This is not right. We understand the government is taking steps it needs to take, but it's still hard for us to accept," he said. Parents across the quake-hit region have blamed shoddy construction linked to official corruption for the collapse of schools and have staged rare open protests demanding justice. In perhaps the most volatile incident yet, a group of about 100 people including grieving parents were forcibly dispersed on Tuesday after staging a demonstration in Dujiangyan, Zhou and other residents told AFP. Some parents, demanding that someone be held responsible for the school collapses, were physically dragged away by riot police, they said. "Our children died because of corruption. Everybody knows," Zhou said. "We want those responsible to be found and punished." Reporters, both foreign and domestic, had been allowed rare freedom to report in the immediate aftermath of the May 12 quake, which has left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing. However, security measures in the quake zone have been noticeably more stringent in recent days amid signs of official unease over the school collapses.

"China quake lake extremely dangerous"

Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, warned at a briefing late Tuesday that one of the risks was aftershocks, which could breach the lake any time, inundating lower-lying areas.

"The area still receives constant aftershocks, and especially aftershocks of a strength over six on the Richter scale could have an impact," said Liu, according to the news service.

"After several measures undertaken at the lake, the situation remains extremely dangerous," the news service said, citing Liu.

The lake was created when the May 12 magnitude-8.0 earthquake rattled southwest China's Sichuan province, triggering a massive landslide that blocked a river cutting through the mountainous area.

Since then, officials have been watching anxiously as the lake has built up, warning it could endanger more than a million people if it were to break through the barrier.

Last week hundreds of soldiers dug a channel, hoping it would help drain the lake or at least contain its growth once it reached a certain level.

As of late Tuesday, the surface of the lake was edging closer to the top of the dam, reaching just 2.37 metres (eight feet) below the lowest point of the blockage, according to the China Daily website.

It remained to be seen whether the water could be directed successfully into the newly dug channel, according to the paper.

The death toll from China's earthquake rose on Tuesday to 69,107, with another 18,230 missing, the government said. The new toll, given by the state-run Xinhua news agency, marked an increase of 88 from the day before.

As of Wednesday afternoon there was still no news on a missing rescue helicopter that crashed in mountainous terrain Saturday with 19 on board.

Chinese police and soldiers blocked access to schools in the quake region Wednesday after residents reported angry disturbances by parents of dead children.

The restricted access appeared to reflect growing official anxiety over increasingly public displays of anger by parents of the thousands of children killed by the May 12 quake in southwestern Sichuan province.

"This is a bad thing and they don't want it publicised. They want to keep it a secret. They are getting worried," a parent, who gave only his surname Zhou due to the sensitivity of the subject, told AFP.

He said his daughter was one of hundreds buried in the Juyuan Middle School near the city of Dujiangyan.

Another father, who lost his daughter, 14-year-old Li Yi, also voiced frustration that he was not able to visit the site of the collapsed school.

"We just want to get our daughter. This is not right. We understand the government is taking steps it needs to take, but it's still hard for us to accept," he said.

Parents across the quake-hit region have blamed shoddy construction linked to official corruption for the collapse of schools and have staged rare open protests demanding justice.

In perhaps the most volatile incident yet, a group of about 100 people including grieving parents were forcibly dispersed on Tuesday after staging a demonstration in Dujiangyan, Zhou and other residents told AFP.

Some parents, demanding that someone be held responsible for the school collapses, were physically dragged away by riot police, they said.

"Our children died because of corruption. Everybody knows," Zhou said. "We want those responsible to be found and punished."

Reporters, both foreign and domestic, had been allowed rare freedom to report in the immediate aftermath of the May 12 quake, which has left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

However, security measures in the quake zone have been noticeably more stringent in recent days amid signs of official unease over the school collapses.