The number of deaths resulting from floods that caused severe damages in central China last month is now at 302, local authorities revealed on Monday - more than three times the previous estimate.
On the 20th of July, torrential rainfall took place in the province of Henan, leading to flooding in a lot of towns and cities. The provincial capital, Zhengzhou, home to 12 million people, was affected the most, with the whole neighborhoods engulfed and passengers stuck in flooded subway vehicles.
Zhengzhou Flooding
At a news conference on Monday the provincial deputy governor, Wu Guoding, said a sum of 50 people are still unaccounted for across Henan, the great majority of them from Zhengzhou.
Wu said that of the total number of people that lost their lives, 292 were from Zhengzhou. Most victims died as a result of floods and landslides, while several dozen died because of house collapses, and another 39 suffocated in water in underground spaces including garages and basements.
The drowning casualties include 14 people who lost their lives in a flooded subway line, where a lot of passengers were trapped in subway vehicles up to their necks in floodwater, as currents moving with high speed ripped through the network of tunnels under the ground.
Also Read: 33 Dead as Heavy Rains and Flooding Turned Streets and Subways into Rushing Rivers in China
Authorities to Establish an Investigation Team
Dramatic footage showing people holding unto ceiling handles so that their heads can stay above water surprised the nation and made headlines all over the world. Over 500 passengers were relocated from the subway line, authorities revealed some days following the first flooding.
Another six deaths were from a fully inundated road tunnel keeping passengers stuck in their cars inside. It took rescue teams days to pump out floodwater from the tunnel in downtown Zhengzhou.
China's State Council said in a statement on Monday that it was setting up a team to "investigate and evaluate" the flooding and casualties. The team will analyze if there was "dereliction of duty," and will "hold people accountable in accordance with laws and regulations," the statement said.
As per state-run media, the flooding also affected smaller villages and cities, with rivers increasing to the extent of exceeding warning levels and a lot of reservoirs overflowing, impacting hundreds of thousands of people. The extremity of the flooding was gotten by so many footages uploaded on Chinese social media, which showed people and vehicles carried away in surging floods.
Coronavirus Outbreak Complicates Recovery
Coronavirus outbreak has aggravated the challenges facing Zhengzhou as its battles to recover from the catastrophic floods.
As of Monday, this city has reported about 13 symptomatic cases that are locally transmitted, and 50 asymptomatic cases, which are calculated differently, as per state-run news agency Xinhua.
Most cases are connected with an outbreak at a hospital, where medical staff, janitors, and patients are also infected. Just a few of the verified cases in Zhengzhou is not clearly linked to the hospital - but they are either based close by or have visited a place close to the hospital, as per state-run media Global Times.
Related Article: Massive Flooding Caused by Heavy Rains Lashed China's Central Province of Henan, Killing 12
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