31 killed in Beijing nursing home due to heavy flooding

International

AT LEAST 31 residents at a nursing home in Beijing were killed due to flooding this week, local authorities confirmed.

Emergency units tried to rescue trapped residences through chest-high waters in the home in the Miyum District. Most of the reported casualties were immobile, a report by BBC stated.

Around 77 elderly people were living inside the home when the flood came, at least 40 of them were trapped as the water level rose to almost 6ft, according to Chinese media.

According to local media, the nursing home, located in Taishitun Town, primarily facilitates individuals who are severely disabled, low-income, or receiving low living allowances.

"For a long time, the central area of the town where the nursing home is located had been considered safe, so it was not included in the evacuation scope of the plan," a Chinese official said at a press conference on Thursday, July 31.

Local authorities confessed that there were “loopholes in emergency planning” and stated that what happened was a painful lesson that served as a “wake-up call”.

"This reveals that there are loopholes in our emergency planning. Our understanding of extreme weather has been insufficient, and this painful lesson has served as a wake-up call.”

A total of 44 people died in the floods that soaked Beijing, which came during a summer of extreme weather in China. The eastern regions were hit by record heatwaves while floods swept the south-west of the country.

There were also 16 reported casualties in the nearby Hebei province due to the heavy rainfall. Eight were killed in the city of Chengde, with 18 still unaccounted for. (Marlon Ado Jr., USC Comm Intern)