Aerial photo taken on July 22, 2021 shows rescuers evacuating stranded people outside the Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital in flood-hit Zhongmu County of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province.Photo:Xinhua

An investigation report, by an investigation team under China's State Council on the deadly flood in Zhengzhou last summer, was released on Friday, and Xu Liyi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China's Henan Provincial Committee and Zhengzhou's Party chief, was demoted and given disciplinary punishment, after the investigation found that he failed his duties in dealing with the disaster.

Police detained eight people for suspected criminal responsibilities in the disaster and will pursue charges against them, and 89 people holding public posts, including Xu, were punished with Party discipline and administrative penalties.

From July 17-23, 2021, Central China's Henan Province was hit by rare heavy rains and severe floods, and the capital city Zhengzhou suffered heavy casualties and property damage. A total of 14.78 million people in 150 counties and districts were affected, and 398 people were dead or missing, with 380 in Zhengzhou. 

The State Council, China's cabinet, announced in August establishing an investigation team to assess the local response to the devastating flood in Zhengzhou.

The CPC's top disciplinary agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), decided to conduct an investigation into Xu's discipline violations when dealing with the flood in Zhengzhou. He was found not fully implementing the CPC Central Committee and the State Council's decision, not fully understanding the risk of floods, being lax in organizing precautions, and improperly dealing with emergencies, which led to serious results.

The disaster started with extreme rains which led to severe urban logging, floods, landslides and other disasters and caused great causalities and property damage, according to the investigation report.

It noted that the local Zhengzhou government and related departments were not vigilant to severe disasters, acted lax in emergency response and had misconduct, and the casualties in the metro and tunnels should have been avoided.

During the heavy downpours on July 20, 2021, flood water inundated Line 5 of the Zhengzhou Metro, one of the busiest lines in the city, forcing the train to stop between Shakou Road Station and Haitansi Station, and more than 500 passengers were trapped in the waters for nearly four hours. The Jingguang Tunnel was also flooded, with many vehicles trapped. 

The report pointed out that some local officials in Zhengzhou lacked vigilance of risks, not paying enough attention to the city's emergency system, and local officials and residents severely lacked knowledge on avoiding risks.

More details on the disaster were unveiled in the report, including that the emergency management bureau in Zhengzhou neglected red alerts for heavy rain for five times, had malpractice in reporting deaths and the numbers of missing persons.

The direct economic losses reached 120 billion yuan and the losses in Zhengzhou totaled 40.9 billion yuan, according to the investigation report.

Global Times