China braces as quake lake reaches critical level
Updated
China is bracing itself for the breach of a dangerously swollen lake in the earthquake-hit southwest province of Sichuan.
With water reaching a critical level in the Tangjiashan "quake lake" the authority's emergency drainage plan is going to be put to the test.
Soldiers and police have been working furiously to dig a drainage channel to stop the "quake lake" from bursting its banks and threatening thousands of people downstream.
Xinhua news agency says the controlled draining of some of the 200 million cubic metres of water behind the lake has not yet started.
Instead a temporary dam is now preventing the lake from overflowing.
But with more rain and thunderstorm predicted there are fears that the lake would not be able to contain the water.
