China dam threatens more tragedy
Updated on 14 May 2008
As the death toll from the Chinese earthquake continues to rise, Sichuan province is threatened with flooding from a dam that is near bursting point.
Whole villages have been wiped out. Thousands of people are still buried. And as the horrific death toll from China's deadly earthquake climbs still further, a new crisis threatens as a major dam reaches bursting point.
The toll so far
- The aid effort has focused on China's south western Sichuan province, where 50,000 troops have been deployed.
- The official death toll has climbed to nearly 15,000 - and that is set to rise.
- 14,000 people are still missing and more than 25,000 are still buried under collapsed buildings.
- The worst affected areas are around the quake's epicentre in the mountainous Wenchuan area, where rain and mudslides have hampered the relief effort.
- In Mianyang city up to 10,000 homeless survivors from the rural county of Beichuan have filled a sports stadium. In Mienzhu, where thousands have already died, 500 people were pulled out alive from crushed buildings.
- Efforts are also being made to plug "extremely dangerous" cracks in a dam upriver from the city of Dujiangyan.
Amateur video footage of when the quake struck in the town of Dujiangyan has just come to light, revealing the terrifying moments bystanders realised what was happening.
Thousands of troops have also been deployed to Zipingpu dam, where large cracks are said to be appearing in its structure.
If it bursts, large areas of Sichuan province could be flooded.
The accompanying videos by Lindsey Hilsum and Alex Thomson contain highly distressing images
