The Prague Post - At least 11 killed, 13 missing in Beijing rainstorms

EUR -
AED 4.298411
AFN 80.848329
ALL 97.660061
AMD 448.846241
ANG 2.09445
AOA 1073.146765
ARS 1490.94381
AUD 1.79484
AWG 2.109431
AZN 1.991025
BAM 1.956002
BBD 2.362943
BDT 142.480417
BGN 1.9561
BHD 0.441151
BIF 3488.059346
BMD 1.170281
BND 1.500255
BOB 8.086833
BRL 6.51998
BSD 1.170321
BTN 101.061412
BWP 16.313681
BYN 3.829995
BYR 22937.499063
BZD 2.350842
CAD 1.599709
CDF 3377.430105
CHF 0.932836
CLF 0.029081
CLP 1115.956442
CNY 8.397888
CNH 8.396634
COP 4722.585298
CRC 590.26081
CUC 1.170281
CUP 31.012435
CVE 110.273063
CZK 24.624578
DJF 208.191448
DKK 7.466448
DOP 70.637277
DZD 151.852654
EGP 57.451067
ERN 17.554208
ETB 162.356126
FJD 2.635826
FKP 0.867102
GBP 0.867734
GEL 3.171696
GGP 0.867102
GHS 12.200257
GIP 0.867102
GMD 83.678408
GNF 10153.742385
GTQ 8.981925
GYD 244.845224
HKD 9.186626
HNL 30.629155
HRK 7.537425
HTG 153.575822
HUF 399.280416
IDR 19089.850623
ILS 3.919825
IMP 0.867102
INR 101.146057
IQD 1533.057938
IRR 49283.4483
ISK 142.434345
JEP 0.867102
JMD 187.669334
JOD 0.829734
JPY 172.261202
KES 151.855558
KGS 102.340977
KHR 4690.483222
KMF 493.857789
KPW 1053.288792
KRW 1622.008808
KWD 0.357282
KYD 0.9753
KZT 624.43433
LAK 25239.600229
LBP 104859.602826
LKR 353.018827
LRD 234.644173
LSL 20.602623
LTL 3.455534
LVL 0.707891
LYD 6.340464
MAD 10.543471
MDL 19.848045
MGA 5180.533708
MKD 61.564501
MMK 2456.363932
MNT 4200.462756
MOP 9.462875
MRU 46.449785
MUR 53.235831
MVR 18.019336
MWK 2029.309063
MXN 21.832719
MYR 4.952046
MZN 74.850385
NAD 20.602623
NGN 1792.143945
NIO 43.063149
NOK 11.889056
NPR 161.698658
NZD 1.963426
OMR 0.449999
PAB 1.170321
PEN 4.167005
PGK 4.91936
PHP 66.610061
PKR 333.501434
PLN 4.257423
PYG 8899.650693
QAR 4.266812
RON 5.071414
RSD 117.208305
RUB 91.721498
RWF 1691.674279
SAR 4.390103
SBD 9.695886
SCR 17.333586
SDG 702.769843
SEK 11.214073
SGD 1.499521
SHP 0.919657
SLE 26.916275
SLL 24540.202914
SOS 668.868908
SRD 42.920017
STD 24222.444896
STN 24.502524
SVC 10.239749
SYP 15215.82151
SZL 20.609123
THB 37.719898
TJS 11.234957
TMT 4.107685
TND 3.427353
TOP 2.74092
TRY 47.308557
TTD 7.947819
TWD 34.43788
TZS 3042.729269
UAH 48.887674
UGX 4199.432633
USD 1.170281
UYU 47.254868
UZS 14749.519522
VES 136.88189
VND 30596.985357
VUV 138.992756
WST 3.085016
XAF 656.024585
XAG 0.030046
XAU 0.000345
XCD 3.162742
XCG 2.109217
XDR 0.81669
XOF 656.004963
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.978836
ZAR 20.578541
ZMK 10533.934167
ZMW 27.063788
ZWL 376.829864
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

At least 11 killed, 13 missing in Beijing rainstorms

At least 11 killed, 13 missing in Beijing rainstorms

At least 11 people were killed and 13 were missing after heavy rains lashed Beijing, state media said Tuesday, in downpours that have submerged roads and deluged neighbourhoods with mud.

Text size:

Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, swept northwards over China after hitting southern Fujian province on Friday, following its battering of the Philippines.

Heavy rains began pummelling the capital and surrounding areas on Saturday, with nearly the average rainfall for the entire month of July dumped on Beijing in just 40 hours.

Swaths of suburban Beijing remain badly hit by the rains -- some of the city's heaviest in years.

On the banks of the Mentougou river, one of the worst affected areas, AFP reporters saw muddy debris strewn across the road.

One man told AFP he had not seen flooding this bad since July 2012, when 79 people were killed and tens of thousands evacuated.

"This time it's much bigger than that," he said, declining to give his name.

"It's a natural disaster, there's nothing you can do," a 20-year-old man surnamed Qi waiting for a taxi with his grandmother outside a hospital told AFP.

"(We) still have to work hard and rebuild."

On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported that the rains had killed at least 11 people, two of whom were workers "killed on duty during rescue and relief".

Thirteen people were missing, but another 14 had been found safe, the broadcaster said.

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for "every effort" to rescue those "lost or trapped" by the rains.

More than 100,000 people deemed at risk across the city have been evacuated, according to state-owned Global Times newspaper.

Authorities have allocated 110 million yuan ($15.4 million) for disaster relief work in Beijing and surrounding provinces, CCTV said.

- 'Endure what we can' -

On Tuesday, around a dozen emergency vehicles, including trucks with water tanks and bulldozers, were spotted on the road between Shijingshan and Mentougou districts.

Parts of the road were still closed off and workers in bright orange raincoats were using shovels to clear it.

Florist Wang Yongkun, 62, had piled sandbags around the door of his shop, but the floor inside was still coated in mud.

He said in 15 years working there he had never experienced anything like the last few days.

"We started cleaning up in the afternoon yesterday... and woke up again at seven today to continue," he said.

"You just have to deal with it... We will endure what we can."

Around 150,000 households in Mentougou were without running water, the local Communist Party newspaper Beijing Daily said, with 45 water tankers dispatched to offer emergency supplies.

- Cars swept away -

Further south in Fangshan district, the Dashi River had overflowed, with trees along the riverbank partially submerged, and some sections of the road cordoned off.

Roads were caked in mud, foliage and various debris, including an upturned armchair.

AFP reporters saw collapsed bridges at two locations, with locals saying the damage had happened during the rains.

Earlier social media videos tagged in Fangshan had shown multiple cars being swept along roads turned into fast-flowing streams.

Live images from broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday morning showed a row of buses half submerged in floodwater.

In the parking lot of a high-rise apartment complex, cars were piled on top of each other, alarms still sounding, while people lined up with buckets and other containers to collect fresh water.

- Chaotic scenes -

Local media on Monday published footage of chaotic scenes aboard high-speed rail trains stranded on tracks for as long as 30 hours, with passengers complaining that they had run out of food and water.

Authorities "must properly relocate affected people, work quickly to repair damaged transportation, communication, and electricity infrastructure, and restore the order of normal production and life as soon as possible", Xi said on Tuesday.

The capital activated a flood control reservoir on Monday for the first time since it was built in 1998, the Beijing Daily said.

Parts of neighbouring Hebei province remain under red alert for rainstorms, with authorities warning of potential flash floods and landslides.

In Handan, Hebei province, rescuers lifted by crane reached a man trapped on his car in floodwaters, lifting him to safety before the car was flipped and washed away by the current.

China has been experiencing extreme weather and posting record temperatures this summer, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.

The country is already preparing for the arrival of another typhoon -- Khanun, the sixth such storm of the year -- as it nears China's east coast.

G.Turek--TPP