Society

Evacuations underway after reservoir embankment collapses

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-08 19:41

NANNING - More than 2,500 people are being evacuated from three villages after a reservoir embankment subsided Tuesday in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said local government officials Tuesday.

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A pit, two meters in diameter and a meter deep, was found at 9:20 am in the embankment of Lingkou Reservoir, which holds 580,000 cubic meters of water, in Xingbin district of Laibin city, said Lu Yi, a spokesman of the district's Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The reservoir, built in 1958, was leaking a tenth of a cubic meter of water every second, threatening the three villages downstream, Lu said.

It was still unknown what triggered the subsidence, Lu said.

A similar incident happened in the same district when hillside ground sank leaving four giant pits on June 3. A total of 615 villagers were evacuated.