At least 25 people were killed including 12 who were trapped in a flooded subway in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan province, following rare torrential rains in recent history in the region.
Photographs and videos posted on social media showed commuters trapped in chest-deep floodwaters on a train in the dark on a subway line in Zhengzhou city with a population of around 12 million.
More than 500 people were evacuated from the subway system late on Tuesday night; in all about 200,000 people had to be relocated in the city because of the rainfall.
The highest-level emergency alert notice has been issued across the province.
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday instructed authorities to deploy the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to rescue those stuck in inundated subways, hotels and public places.
The PLA has deployed 3,000 personnel to help local authorities in flood control and evacuation.
There were fears over the collapse of a dam posing further flood risk to the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, located on the banks of the Yellow river.
Local media reported widespread collapse of homes and structures because of the rains in the central province.
“From 8pm on July 17 to 8pm on Tuesday [July 20], total precipitation of 617.1mm was recorded in Zhengzhou, close to the city’s average annual precipitation of 640.8mm, said the city’s meteorological bureau,” Xinhua news agency reported.
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