About 2,000 people who lost their homes in Xinjiang last week when a dyke on the Bayi reservoir collapsed are still living in temporary local government organised shelter, an official said yesterday.
The victims are being housed in office buildings, hotels, schools and tents in Wujiaqu, a city north of the regional capital, Urumqi.
Jia Zhongsheng, a research officer in Wujiaqu, said it was hoped that the remaining victims could return home in about three days.
Up to 13,800 people who lived downstream of the reservoir were evacuated last Wednesday when the dyke collapsed. Most victims have returned in the past few days after water subsided.
The reservoir was built in 1957 about 60km from Urumqi. Designed to hold 30 million cubic metres of water, it had been under repair since last July, but work had been suspended for the winter.
China Central Television said officials sounded the alarm on local television broadcasts. It interviewed Zhou Xiuying, an 85-year-old woman, who said people poured into the streets after they heard the news. Many families were looking for their children.