A firefighter in Beijing’s Haidian district, who tried to rescue people trapped by heavy flooding that has pummelled Beijing and surrounding areas in the heaviest rain in at least 140 years has reportedly died.
The Chinese government is said to have awarded a martyr status to Feng Zhen who was washed away by flood waters as he tried to rescue three people from a school building on Monday. The people escaped the area safely, but after receiving medical treatment Feng “died a heroic death”, according to state media.
According to reports, Feng was one of 20 people to die in Beijing in the worst rainfall since records began 140 years ago. The dramatic weather comes as China denies accusations that it had undermined key climate talks with other countries.
Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, swept northwards over China after hitting southern Fujian province last week, after its battering of the Philippines. The average rainfall for the entire month of July was dumped on Beijing in just 40 hours, with heavy rains pummelling the capital and surrounding areas since Saturday.
Read also: Brazilian minister says Amazon deforestation fell over 60% in July
“The maximum [amount] of rainfall recorded during this storm, which was 744.8 millimetres, occurred at the Wangjiayuan reservoir in Changping,” the Beijing Meteorological Service said, adding it was the “heaviest rainfall in 140 years”.
The rainfall proved too much for the ancient drainage systems of the Forbidden City, the imperial complex in the heart of Beijing as pictures and videos posted online showed the palace courtyards flooded as rainfall gushed through the 600-year-old gutters.
This extreme weather is coming as China’s foreign ministry denied reports that it obstructed discussions on tackling climate change at G20 meetings in India last week, calling the accusations “completely inconsistent with the facts”.
The group of major countries failed to issue a joint communique or deliver any new pledges after three days of discussions on issues such as cutting emissions and fossil fuel use. The group acknowledged in a statement after their talks that measures to address the climate crisis were “insufficient”.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
