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‘It was hard to breathe’: Zhengzhou flood terror as train submerged

Published

4 years ago

July 22, 2021

China’s Zhengzhou is sinking, with thousands trying to flee

Desperate passengers have tried to flee a Chinese subway station drowning in floodwater, as Zhengzhou cops record rainfall.

In one train carriage, water seeped in and rose from ankle to waist, to then, neck height.

Panicked commuters stretched upwards to breathe, while others lifted shorter people into the shrinking air pocket above.

Terrifying videos published on social media captured the moment some passengers stood on chairs and clung to the ceiling, hoping not to drown.

One tried to smash a window, before realising that there was even more water outside the carriage

“I can’t speak any more,” one woman wrote on the social media site Weibo. “If no rescue comes in 20 minutes, hundreds of us will lose our lives.”

Another woman who gave her name as “Ms. Li ” told Elephant News. “We were all standing on the seats, and the water was already on our knees,”

After about an hour, the train carriage was plunged into darkness and the oxygen level dropped significantly as people started to panic.

“I was really scared”

Some shorter passengers had water up to their necks, adding that as time went on the air supply began to diminish.

After several hours of fear and uncertainty, rescuers were able to gain access through the roof of the carriage and pulled people out. “We knocked on the glass a bit [on the ceiling]. Then suddenly there was air,” an unnamed woman told state broadcaster CCTV.

Hundreds saved from flooding subway tunnel

Hundreds of people were eventually saved from the flooded subway tunnel in Zhengzhou. The city has a population of more than 10 million people, and many take public transport.

Chinese scientists say global warming has made the situation more dangerous and warn that extreme weather could become more frequent in the future.

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