SEVERE STORM FLOODS CHINA SUBWAY, 12 DIE
Some reservoirs had their dams burst
BEIJING (AFP) — Twelve people died after torrential rains flooded a subway in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, as shocking images showed passengers struggling against chest-high water inside a train carriage.
As dams burst and river embankments were breached in record downpours across Henan province, President Xi Jinping described the situation as “extremely severe” with flood control measures entering a “critical stage,” state media reported Wednesday morning.
“Some reservoirs had their dams burst... causing serious injury, loss of life and property damage,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Around 200,000 city residents were evacuated, local government officials said, with soldiers leading rescue efforts in the city of over 10 million people, where days of rain have inundated the streets and subway.
Five people in the submerged metro were also injured, while hundreds were rescued from the subway, city officials said in a Weibo post.
Nerve-shredding images shared on social media showed shocked passengers contending with the fast-rising waters inside a train carriage. Rescuers cut open the roof of the coach to pull people to safety, local media reported.
Others showed dramatic rescues of pedestrians in Zhengzhou from torrents gushing through the streets.
Relatives outside the city made anxious pleas on China’s Weibo for information as communications to the city went down.
Dam burst threat
Authorities have issued the highest warning level for Henan province as floods continue to hammer the region.
As the scale of the disaster continued to unspool on Wednesday, the Chinese army warned that a stricken dam around an hour from Zhengzhou city “could collapse at any time” after being severely damaged in torrential storms.
Around 200,000 city residents were evacuated.
The regional unit of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) alerted Tuesday that the relentless downpour had caused a 20-meter breach in the Yihetan dam in Luoyang — a city of around seven million people.
The PLA’s Central Theater Command said it had sent soldiers to carry out an emergency response including blasting and flood diversion.
Soldiers have been deployed to other rivers nearby to reinforce embankments with sandbags as the floods fanned out across Henan and warnings were issued of other near breaches of dams.