A ‘Danger’ sign stands on a road in downtown Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan province, which was flooded by record heavy rain on July 20, 2021. yunhap newsThe heavy rain that hit Zhengzhou, Henan Province, in July last year killed 380 people or went missing, but 139 of them were covered up.
The Disaster Investigation Team of the State Council of China announced on the 21st that the number of deaths and missing persons in Zhengzhou due to the flood at that time was 380 as of September 30, through announcing the results of the investigation on the damage caused by the ‘July 20 Henan Zhengzhou Special Heavy Tornado’ on the 21st.
In Zhengzhou, a provincial capital of Henan Province and a metropolis with a population of 12 million, around July 20 last year, 617 mm of rain, equivalent to the amount of precipitation a year, fell, causing great damage.
Passengers trapped in a subway train in Zhengzhou city. qai show captureIn particular, when some underground sections of Zhengzhou Subway Line 5 were flooded, more than 500 passengers had to fight in the dark, and more than 15 people died.
However, it was found that relevant organizations or individuals in Zhengzhou City fabricated the statistics on casualties by making false reports and forging or falsifying records.
As a result, as of July 29, last year, a total of 97 people had died or disappeared in Zhengzhou, but when it was announced on July 30, it suddenly jumped to 322, and on August 1, it had risen to 339.
The government of Henan Province announced that 302 people died and 50 people were missing in the mid-term announcement of the damage caused by heavy rain on August 2nd, but doubts were raised that the actual number of casualties would be large, but it has been confirmed to be true.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Zhengzhou, Henan Province, which suffered massive flood damage on August 19, 2021, and inspects the interior of Subway Line 5. yunhap newsEven when Premier Li Keqiang visited the site a month following the flood, the city of Zhengzhou learned that 12 new deaths had been added but did not report properly.
However, some criticized that it was a problem that Prime Minister Li only visited the site on August 19, a month later, and some say that the 7.20 Zhengzhou heavy rain showed the bare face of China’s poor disaster response system.
At the time, Prime Minister Li acknowledged that there was a problem with the Zhengzhou authorities’ response, saying that if negligence is revealed, they should be reprimanded and respond to the public’s attention.
In this regard, the Beijing Daily reported that the Henan Provincial Standing Committee recently dismissed Zhengzhou Party Secretary Xurii. Shilii is one of the ‘Zhijiangxinjun’, which refers to the personal connections of Xi Jinping’s Zhejiang Province secretary.