Twelve Killed As Zhengzhou's Subway Floods

Twelve people died after torrential rains flooded the subway in the Henan city of Zhengzhou, authorities said on 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 "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.

Authorities have issued the highest warning level for Henan province as record floods hammer the province.

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

On Tuesday evening, a regional unit of the People's Liberation Army warned that the relentless downpour had caused a 20-metre breach in the Yihetan dam in Luoyang -- a city of around seven million people -- with the risk that it "may collapse at any time".

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

"On July 20, a 20-metre breach occurred at the Yihetan dam.... the riverbank was severely damaged and the dam may collapse at any time," it said in the statement. (AFP)

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