China declares quake lake crisis over

Evacuees headed down from temporary camps Wednesday after Chinese authorities declared the flood threat over from an earthquake-formed lake that was successfully drained the day before.

Soldiers dug a diversion channel and blasted away boulders and large debris with dynamite, bazookas and recoilless guns to speed up the drainage of the lake, created after last month's devastating earthquake triggered a landslide of debris. On Tuesday, churning water poured through a man-made sluice and engulfed low-lying, empty towns but spared larger areas downstream.

Sichuan province's Communist Party chief, Liu Qibao, declared "decisive victory" after more than half the 66 billion gallons of water drained off by Tuesday evening, easing pressure on a dam formed when the quake triggered a landslide of mud, rocks and other debris, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.