Chinese Premier visits quake lake

Updated 13.11 Thu Jun 05 2008

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is visiting the country's earthquake zone to see first hand the progress of troops attempting to stabilise dozens of newly formed lakes in the area.

The 'quake lakes' formed in the mountainous southwestern province of Sichuan following landslides occurring after the earthquakes last month. Falling earth and rubble has drastically re-altered the direction of rivers causing flooding in unpredicted and often inhabited areas.

"Now it's a critical moment for the Tangjiashan quake lake, and the most important thing is to ensure there are no casualties" - Premier Wen Jiabao

On his third visit since the national disaster, Mr Wen met with local ground troops and officials whose primary concern was the safety of those in the vicinity of the lakes.

"Now it's a critical moment for the Tangjiashan quake lake, and the most important thing is to ensure there are no casualties," He said.

Engineers have been brought in to assess the risk of the newly formed lakes bursting their natural dams. Liu Ning, a leading specialist on site has said that statistically 90 per cent of the water bodies produced by earthquakes eventually rupture with floods.

Water levels at the largest lake in Tangjiashan has risen to 738.71 metres above sea level causing enough concern to evacuate more that 250,000 people in Beichuan county and Mianyang city.

Hanwang, one of the hardest-hit towns, is also evacuating thousands to safety as more rain has been forecast over the weekend.

According to the latest official figures the total death toll has risen to 69,127 people, with 17,918 more missing.

Around 15 million displaced Chinese residents have been housed in tent cities that have been constructed across the region.