China flooding kills dozens, including 31 trapped at elderly care home

Official says ‘contingency program had flaws’ arsenic torrential rains, floods termination 31 radical astatine elder centre adjacent Beijing.

Torrential rains and flooding crossed bluish China person killed dozens of people, authorities say, including much than 30 aged residents who were trapped astatine a attraction installation successful a suburb of the superior Beijing.

Officials said connected Thursday that 31 radical died astatine the Taishitun Town Elderly Care Center successful the Miyun district, astir a 90-minute thrust from cardinal Beijing, which was 1 of the areas deed hardest by this week’s storms.

“For a agelong time, this elder centre was successful the town’s centre and was safe, and specified was not included successful the preparedness plans,” said Yu Weiguo, the Communist Party caput for Miyun, expressing his condolences and adding it was a “bitter lesson”.

“This showed that our contingency program had flaws, and our knowing of utmost upwind was inadequate,” Yu said.

The attraction centre housed 69 residents, including 55 who were disabled successful immoderate capacity. The installation sat connected low-lying crushed adjacent a stream that had flooded aft the unusually aggravated rains, section media outlet Caixin reported.

Torrential rains began a week ago and peaked astir Beijing and its surrounding provinces connected Monday.

In the abstraction of a fewer days, the hilly Miyun territory successful the northeast of the superior saw rainfall of up to 573.5mm (22.6 inches). By comparison, the mean yearly precipitation successful Beijing is astir 600mm (23.6 inches).

The Miyun Reservoir, the largest successful bluish China, saw record-breaking h2o levels during the rains.

The Qingshui River, which runs done Taishitun feeding into the reservoir and is usually a tiny stream, was flowing astatine 1,500 times its mean measurement connected Monday greeting erstwhile the catastrophe struck, Yu said.

One Beijing resident’s 87-year-old parent managed to get retired of the elder attraction centre successful Miyun, Caixin reported.

“She doesn’t cognize wherever she got the strength, but she managed to ascent onto the windowsill,” the woman’s girl said, noting her mother’s roommate was incapable to flight and drowned.

Hundreds of thousands affected

At a quality league connected Thursday, Beijing’s Deputy Mayor Xia Linmao said astatine slightest 44 radical died implicit the past week successful the city.

In total, much than 300,000 radical person been affected by the rainfall and flooding successful the capital, with much than 24,000 homes, 242 bridges and 756km (470 miles) of roads damaged, said Xia, citing preliminary figures.

In neighbouring Hebei province, authorities announced an further 8 deaths connected Thursday and 16 deaths full this week.

At slightest 31 radical were missing successful Beijing and Hebei province, authorities said.

Meanwhile, successful northern Shanxi province, authorities said connected Wednesday evening that 10 radical were dormant aft a minibus carrying workplace workers washed distant successful dense rain.

Four radical were inactive missing arsenic the rescue continued, according to a metropolis authorities connection 3 days aft the autobus disappeared.

A antheral rides his conveyance past debris on a flooded thoroughfare pursuing dense rains successful the Miyun district, July 29, 2025 [Adek Berry/AFP]