Work on lake channel picks up pace

Hundreds of soldiers and engineers, using 40 excavators and bulldozers, were working nonstop yesterday to dig a diversion channel to prevent a quake lake in Beichuan from bursting its banks.

One-third of the sluice has been completed thanks to fine weather yesterday and airlifts of heavy machinery and other supplies, Yang Hailiang, a senior rescue official, told Xinhua News Agency.

The channel won't be ready until June 5, experts have said.