Quake survivors flee amid flood threat

CHENGDU (China) (Agencies) - Thousands of earthquake survivors fled tent camps and villages across the ravaged landscape of southwestern China on Saturday after the government warned that several lakes and rivers were getting dangerously close to overflowing because landslides have blocked water flow, reports The New York Times.

The danger of flooding was so severe that some rescue workers had to abandon their efforts, at least temporarily, to find people buried beneath rubble in Beichuan, one of the hardest-hit counties. With the chances of finding survivors dwindling by the hour so long after the quake, such interruptions could doom the relatively few who could be expected to be alive beneath debris.

The greatest danger of flooding came from a lake in the far north of Sichuan Province that had already begun to overflow because of a blockage in the Qingzhu River, according to the Xinhua news agency, citing experts at the province's land management department.

A rise of only 6 to 10 feet will cause the lake to "threaten more than 2,000 people who are staying in shelters after the earthquake downstream," said one expert.

A strong aftershock early Sunday rocked the southwest Chinese province that is struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake, the US Geological Survey said.

The 6.0-magnitude aftershock occurred on Sichuan's border with Gansu province, the USGS said, at around 1:08am (1708 GMT Saturday) at a shallow depth of 10km.

There were no immediate reports of further damage or casualties.

Earlier, President Hu Jintao personally experienced an aftershock in earthquake-stricken Wenchuan county in Sichuan province as he delivered a morale-boosting speech to rescue teams during his visit there, state media reported.

Urging the rescue workers to reach remote villages in need of help, the president added: "You should watch out and take good care of yourselves, too."

Five people buried in earthquake rubble for up to 124 hours were pulled to safety Saturday by Chinese rescue teams, state media said, offering hope that more survivors will yet be found.

Russian rescue workers meanwhile pulled a survivor from a pile of debris late Saturday, becoming the first foreign team to find a person alive, Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua earlier reported that a German had also been rescued. But it later revised the story, saying 62-year-old climber Brakus Bogdan was unhurt and had spent five days in a remote village.

The country ramped up efforts to stave off disease for millions of earthquake victims, as more miracle rescues amid the rubble offered hope in an increasingly desperate battle to save lives.

Five days after the enormous earthquake that the government estimates killed more than 50,000 people, there were rising concerns over potential disease outbreaks among the nearly five million people who have lost their homes.

"Combating epidemics is the most urgent and the biggest task facing us right now," Wei Chao'an, Vice-Minister of Agriculture, told reporters in Beijing.

The government raised the confirmed death toll by more than 6,000 to 28,881. But many expect the eventual figure could surpass the government's estimate of more than 50,000.

The international experts have brought in sniffer dogs, fibre-optic scopes, life detector systems and hydraulic cutters and spreaders.