Reuters: “The Chinese government ordered local authorities immediately improve urban transit flood controls and emergency responses on Thursday after a dozen people were killed in a submerged subway amid torrential rains that continue to lash central China. Some 25 people have died in central Henan province, including the 12 trapped in the subway, where rains were persisting for a sixth day and spreading north to neighbouring Hebei province. The Ministry of Transport said local authorities must immediately re-examine and rectify all hidden risks on rail transit.”
“‘They must take emergency measures such as suspending trains, evacuating passengers, and closing stations in atypical situations such as excessively intense storms,’ the ministry said. Hundreds of people were pulled to safety earlier this week from the flooded subway in Henan’s provincial capital of Zhengzhou, a city of 12 million people about 650 km (400 miles) southwest of Beijing. Media images showed commuters immersed in chest-deep waters in lightless cabins. One underground station was reduced to a large churning pool.”