Anxiety grows as China’s Three Gorges dam hits highest level

Officials seek to reassure public after world's largest hydro-electric dam nears capacity amid heavy floods

Extreme floods have hit China's Three Gorges dam, which recorded the largest inflow of water in its history, prompting officials to assure the public it would not be breached.

Inflows to the world's largest hydro-electric dam reached 75m litres of water a second, according to state media. By Thursday morning, 11 outlets of the dam had been opened to discharge 49.2m litres of water a second, the largest release since its construction.