Barrier lake blocked river threatens villagers

World Today

One of the great dangers of earthquakes in mountainous areas are landslides that block the flow of rivers, and that’s what happened on a stretch of the Nuilan River in Yunnan.

A large lake has formed behind a dam created the collapse of mountain slope since Sunday’s quake.

30,000 villagers downstream are being threatened by the rising lake, and Chinese authorities have brought in more than 100 heavy machines and some 400 personnel to remove the blockage. CCTV’s Jin Yingqiao reports.

Barrier lake blocked river threatens villagers

One of the great dangers of earthquakes in mountainous areas are landslides that block the flow of rivers, and that's what happened on a stretch of the Nuilan River in Yunnan.

Dangers are growing upstream. The lake has already forced 9,000 villagers to relocate. 90 hectares of farmland, 92 homes and seven kilometers of roads are now underwater. Engineers expect to pull the plug on the swelling lake when they finish carving their channel through dam by Tuesday.