CHENGDU, China -- The possibility of far worse damage from Monday's earthquake loomed Wednesday after a Chinese government report said that nearly 400 dams suffered damage. State media reported that 2,000 soldiers were sent to try to plug "very dangerous" cracks in one, upriver from the hard-hit Sichuan city of Dujiangyan, official media said. Meanwhile, hundreds of Chinese soldiers marching through mud and debris reached mountain towns at the epicenter of the earthquake on Wednesday, while army helicopters began airdrops of food and medicine in the same area. Officials raised their estimate of the number of people killed to nearly 15,000, with thousands more trapped and missing in remote areas. The report on the damaged dams was by the National Development and Reform Commission. Most, it said, were small dams. The most seriously harmed appeared to be to the Zipingpu Dam, near Dujiangyan. The irrigation system in that area dates to the 3rd century B.C. That city is the site of some of the most horrific scenes in the last few days. A school collapse in a southern suburb killed hundreds of children, perhaps as many as 900. Parents have begun setting up memorials and bodies are still being pulled from the rubble.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Chinese soldiers marching through mud and debris reached mountain towns at the epicenter of the earthquake on Wednesday, while army helicopters began airdrops of food and medicine in the same area. Officials raised their estimate of the number of people killed to nearly 15,000, with thousands more trapped and missing in remote areas.
The report on the damaged dams was by the National Development and Reform Commission. Most, it said, were small dams. The most seriously harmed appeared to be to the Zipingpu Dam, near Dujiangyan. The irrigation system in that area dates to the 3rd century B.C.
That city is the site of some of the most horrific scenes in the last few days. A school collapse in a southern suburb killed hundreds of children, perhaps as many as 900. Parents have begun setting up memorials and bodies are still being pulled from the rubble.
Two thousand soldiers have been sent to plug cracks in a dam upriver from the earthquake-stricken town of Dujiangyan. The Ministry of Water Resources called for the urgent protection of the Zipingpu reservoir, saying that Dujiangyan, which has about 600,000 residents, would be swamped if the dam failed. The Zipingpu dam is among the most modern in China but was built despite warnings it lay close to a major earthquake fault line. Planning for the dam was in its early stages in 2000 when seismologists from China's Earthquake Bureau warned that it could be at risk. Earthquake protection would have been built into the design of the dam, which was constructed in an area where 9,000 people died in 1933 amid landslides caused by an earthquake.
Two thousand soldiers have been sent to plug cracks in a dam upriver from the earthquake-stricken town of Dujiangyan.
The Ministry of Water Resources called for the urgent protection of the Zipingpu reservoir, saying that Dujiangyan, which has about 600,000 residents, would be swamped if the dam failed.
The Zipingpu dam is among the most modern in China but was built despite warnings it lay close to a major earthquake fault line. Planning for the dam was in its early stages in 2000 when seismologists from China's Earthquake Bureau warned that it could be at risk.
Earthquake protection would have been built into the design of the dam, which was constructed in an area where 9,000 people died in 1933 amid landslides caused by an earthquake.
