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DUJIANGYAN, China: China was rushing Friday to clear 'quake lakes' made even more dangerous by persistent rain, as millions of people in danger of being flooded waited downstream.
Heavy downpours prevented helicopters carrying equipment from taking off on Thursday, hampering attempts to drain the Tangjiashan lake, which is threatening to burst its banks and flood vast and densely populated areas.
Draining the lake has become one of the top priorities in the aftermath of the May 12 quake, which flattened entire towns in Sichuan province, leaving nearly 88,000 people dead or missing and displacing 15 million others.
Helicopters have been used to airlift supplies to hundreds of soldiers working desperately to create a channel that can drain the lake, which contains enough water to fill over 50,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
After three days of non-stop efforts, the soldiers had dug a 50-metre (164-foot) wide channel, 300 metres long, but despite the frantic pace the work would not be completed until next Thursday, the state-run China Daily reported.
The government has warned that more than a million people would be affected if the lake overflowed, sending cascades of debris-filled water down into lower-lying areas.
Nearly 170,000 people have already been evacuated while many others have been doing regular drills to move quickly to higher ground in the event that the lake does burst.
However, it was not the only area of Sichuan at risk. Of the 34 lakes created by the quake, 28 are at risk of bursting, the official Xinhua news agency reported, while other unexpected danger continues to cause problems.
Gas from a chemical fire in Leigu town, near the epicentre of the quake, poisoned four people and forced more than 800 to evacuate on Thursday, Xinhua reported, citing a local official.
The fire occurred when bleach powder, used as a disinfectant, self-ignited when it reacted with leaked rainwater, said Song Ming, Communist Party secretary for Beichuan county, one of the worst-hit areas.
More than 800 people near the site were evacuated after dense chlorine gas poisoned two rescue soldiers and two medical workers, according to the agency.
The four were rushed to a military field hospital and were later reported out of danger.
Meanwhile, state press reported the world-famous Wolong Giant Panda Reserve had been so badly damaged by the earthquake that it would probably have to be relocated.
"It's better to move, I think," said Zhang Hemin, the head of the reserve, according to the China Daily.
Five staff members died and one panda is missing after the quake, whose epicentre was only 32 kilometres (20 miles) away from the reserve, according to the paper.
The death toll from the quake has reached 68,516, with another 19,350 missing, according to the most recent data from the government.
Amid the tragedy, the quake has also caused a wave of international sympathy, helping to strengthen ties not least with China's close neighbours.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, on an official state visit to China, will tour Sichuan on Friday, the foreign ministry in Beijing announced, making him the first foreign head of state to visit the quake zone.
But old sensitivities remained. Japan said Friday it had decided against sending military aircraft to China to deliver aid for victims of this month's devastating earthquake.
Japan plans to charter a commercial flight instead to fly tents and other relief supplies to China, said top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura.
"Currently we have no plan to use aircraft of the Self-Defence Force," he told reporters, noting that there had been some "cautious discussions" on the Chinese side about the use of Japanese military planes.
Japan had said Wednesday it was considering sending its first military air mission to China since the end of World War II to fly aid for quake victims, in response to a request by Beijing. - AFP/ac
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