Chinese evacuate dozens of villages

MIANYANG, China – About 80,000 people were evacuated Tuesday downstream of an unstable earthquake-created dam threatening to collapse, and troops rushed to carve a trench to drain the water before it floods the valley.

The threat of flooding from dozens of lakes swelling behind walls of mud and rubble that have plugged narrow valleys in parts of the disaster zone adds a new worry for millions of survivors.

More than 30 villages were emptied and people were being sent to camps like the one outside Jiangyou, where a reporter saw 12-15 people crammed into each of about 40 government-issued tents pitched on a hillside overlooking the river.

“We were told that so far it is the safest place for us to stay if the dam of the lake crashes,” said Liu Yuhua, whose village of Huangshi was evacuated. “But we will have to move farther uphill if the situation turns out to be worse.”

The number of deaths from the May 12 quake climbed toward an expected toll of 80,000 or more. China’s Cabinet said Tuesday that 67,183 people were confirmed killed, with 20,790 still missing.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the region, causing more damage and injuries and jangling the frayed nerves of survivors. Two temblors Tuesday caused more than 420,000 houses to collapse in Qingchuan county, Xinhua reported. Sixty-three people were injured, including six critically.