A group of elderly people trapped in flooded nursing homes, with at least one of 70 people, died in a strong storm that violently attacked Beijing and neighboring provinces.
Officials said nearly a year of rain was wasted in a few days when Beijing’s Miyun area became one of the worst areas in the storm on Thursday, killing at the Taishitun town’s senior care center. Floods surged in the area on Monday and many were not ready.
Officials apologized to the rare public when they announced their deaths on Thursday.
“For a long time, this high-level center has been in the center of the town and is safe and therefore not included in the preparation plan. This means that the plan we have prepared has caves,” said Yu Weiguo, secretary of the Miyun Party, expressing condolences, adding that it was a “painful lesson”.
The nursing center has 69 residents, including 55 people with disabilities. According to local media Caixin, the facility sits on low-lying ground near a river that has been flooded after unusually heavy rain. When the flood hit Monday, 77 people were included in the building.
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The nursing home is on display in a rescue story by state broadcaster CCTV, showing rescuers on board pulling people out of windows without mentioning any deaths.
“Through a concerted effort, they managed to rescue 48 people,” the video story titled, saying no mention of anyone’s death.
The city later announced 28 people were declared dead in Miyang District on Tuesday after rescuers went to the scene, but did not disclose who died.
Since leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, Chinese government examiners have tightened information controls, believing that this is crucial to preventing unrest. In recent years, a growing number of topics have come under scrutiny, ranging from negative news about the economy to basic information about violent attacks, such as the number of injured people.
Beijing officials said they quickly rose to two meters (6.5 feet) at their deepest position when the waters arrived.
Many people cannot escape. Kaising reported that an 87-year-old mother of a Beijing resident managed to leave Miyun’s elderly care center.
“She didn’t know she had the power, but she managed to climb up the windowsill,” she said, noting that her mother’s roommate could not get up and drown.
Officials said 44 people died in Beijing.
In neighboring Hebei province, authorities announced eight more deaths on Thursday, with a total of 16 deaths this week.
In Northern Shanxi Province, 10 people died after a minibus carrying a farm worker washed away in heavy rain. Four people are still missing as the rescue continues, according to a city statement three days after the bus disappeared.
–Fu Ting from Washington, D.C. contributed to the story.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
