BEIJING - Chinese state media say international teams assisting with earthquake relief efforts are shifting their focus to providing shelter and fighting disease.

Tuesday’s report in the China Daily newspaper comes as Chinese soldiers are preparing to dynamite debris blocking a river in Sichuan province, forming an expanding “quake lake.”

Heavy storms Monday cleared up long enough for helicopters to deliver heavy equipment that may be used to build a water diversion channel to drain the lake.

Authorities are concerned the quake lake could burst and cause a flood.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from areas below the expanding lake because of the flood risk.

Officials announced Tuesday that the death toll from the May 12 earthquake has risen to more than 67,000 people. Nearly 21,000 others are known to be missing.

Xinhua news agency says the quake lake in Beichuan county is one of 35 such lakes. The lake is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by foot or air.

China’s Water Resources Ministry has warned that 69 dams in Sichuan are in danger of bursting. Water Ministry officials say priority has been given to Zipingpu dam, which is near the quake epicenter.

That dam could threaten 11 million lives downstream on the Chengdu plain if it collapsed.

The Water Ministry says the 7.9 magnitude quake has put nearly 2,400 reservoirs in danger across the country.

Source:  VOA News