12 dead in flooded subway as downpours hit central China: officials

Images poured across Chinese social media showing dramatic rescues of pedestrians in Zhengzhou from torrents gushing through the streets

Images poured across Chinese social media showing dramatic rescues of pedestrians in Zhengzhou from torrents gushing through the streets

Twelve people died after torrential rains flooded the subway in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, authorities said Wednesday, as shocking images of passengers struggling against neck-high water inside a train carriage emerged on social media.

The city of more than 10 million people in Henan province "has experienced a series of rare and heavy rainstorms, causing water to accumulate in Zhengzhou metro", city officials said in a Weibo post, adding 12 people died and five were injured.

Seasonal floods are common in China, but scientists say climate change is bringing increasingly extreme weather patterns.

The Chinese army warned that a stricken dam in the centre of the country "could collapse at any time" after being severely damaged in torrential storms that killed at least three people and brought the region to a standstill.

The PLA's Central Theater Command said it had sent soldiers to carry out an emergency response including blasting and flood diversion.

Annual floods during China's rainy season cause chaos and wash away roads, crops and houses.

According to the authorities, the rainfall was the heaviest since record-keeping began 60 years ago, with the city seeing the equivalent of a year's average rainfall in just three days.

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Originally published as 12 dead in flooded subway as downpours hit central China: officials