Troops armed with dynamite scrambled on Tuesday to blast through a huge wall of debris that is damming a rising quake lake in south-west China and putting more than a million people at risk. With the May 12 earthquake death toll already standing at more than 65 000, officials are desperate to avoid another disaster.
The death toll from China’s massive earthquake rose to at least 20 000 on Thursday as rescuers struggled to help survivors and hopes faded for a further 25 000 buried under rubble for more than three days. Three days after the quake, hopes of pulling survivors from the ruins dimmed.