Chinese troops race weather to defuse quake dam
(Updates with official comment on progress in paragraphs 3-5)
CHENGDU, May 30 (Reuters) - Chinese troops racing to drain an "earthquake lake" ahead of more rains made substantial progress digging a diversion channel and have created emergency escape paths in case a mud and rock dam gives way.
The landslide-blocked river at Tangjiashan in southwest China's Sichuan province is now the most pressing danger after an earthquake devastated the region on May 12.
Hundreds of troops have removed more than one third of the earth for a channel intended to ease pressure from the rising waters, an official spokesman said on Friday.
"The work on the blocked lake is going smoothly and at this pace it should be completed soon," said Zhou Hua, an official from nearby Mianyang city involved in the drainage effort, told Reuters.
Zhou declined to say when the operation was likely to finish. But up to 190,000 residents downstream had moved to higher ground -- usually hillsides close to where they were living before -- to avoid a surge of water if the blockage suddenly gives way, he said.
"At this stage, the situation is under control, but we've set in place this contingency plan to minimise any possible damage," Zhou said.
The official Xinhua news agency said the water level was nearly 23 metres (75 feet) below the lowest point of the barrier, which experts have said could give way quickly once breached. Troops have also built escape paths in the event that happens, Xinhua said.
The death toll from the quake is over 68,500 and is sure to rise, with 20,000 still reported missing. Aftershocks have toppled 420,000 houses, most already uninhabitable.
The reconstruction work has only just begun, and thousands of survivors are now threatened by the "quake lakes", formed by landslides, that could break through the natural dams, flooding downstream towns and dams.
But rain has hampered the efforts by more than 600 soldiers to open a giant sluice to discharge the floodwaters. Helicopters shipping in equipment were unable to take off, and some 1,000 soldiers had to carry in 10 tonnes of diesel by foot to fuel bulldozers.
A massive relief effort to provide food, tents and clothing for millions and rebuild houses and infrastructure, including many destroyed schools, is expected to take up to three years.
China enacted a special statute to punish those found misusing relief goods and donations, and Beijing sent 300 auditors to the area.
Donations from home and abroad had reached 37.3 billion yuan ($5.38 billion) by Thursday, up 2.5 billion yuan from the previous day, the Information Office of the State Council said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak would visit Sichuan on Friday. (Reporting by Tara Dempster; Writing by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills and Bill Tarrant)
