Beijing Reports 44 Dead and 9 Missing in Torrential Rain—Disaster Victims Say Over 300 Missing

Dark clouds hang over Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] On July 31, at a press conference on flood prevention and disaster relief, Beijing authorities reported that as of 12:00 PM that day, torrential rains in the northern mountainous regions of the city had caused 44 deaths and left 9 people missing. Of the fatalities, 31 occurred at a single location—an elderly care centre in Taishitun Town, Miyun District—accounting for over 70% of the total. However, disaster victims told reporters from The Epoch Times that more than 300 people in their village were missing.

Beijing Deputy Mayor Xia Linmao stated at the July 31 press conference: “This disaster caused significant losses and casualties. We are filled with pain and guilt.” He acknowledged the government’s shortcomings, admitting that: “Our forecasting and warning capabilities for extreme weather are insufficient.” “Our disaster prevention and response plans are inadequate.” “There are weaknesses in basic infrastructure in the mountainous areas.”

The heavy rainfall—described by China’s meteorological authorities as “historically rare”—broke several records in Miyun District: The average rainfall across the district reached 366.6 mm, with localised peaks hitting 573.5 mm, and the flood peak flow in Qingshui River surged to 2,800 cubic meters per second, about 1,500 times the normal flow.

A villager from Sunhugou Village, in Liulimiaozhen Township, Huairou District, told The Epoch Times on the morning of July 29: “The official death toll is inaccurate. The village Party secretary and his wife were both swept away, along with two other people. The reports haven’t even mentioned Huairou, let alone Sunhugou. The death count can’t be right.”

According to villagers, the floodwaters came rushing down from the mountains. Over 300 people in the village did not manage to evacuate and are now missing. “That night, the last call we got said the water was terrifyingly high. We weren’t in the mountains at the time. Only about 20 to 30 people managed to escape. The rest—over 300—are now unaccounted for. Those of us who escaped had to walk 3 to 4 hours from the village to the town. Along the way, we came across a rescue vehicle that took us the rest of the way. The roads were destroyed—no vehicles could pass.”

Some Miyun District residents told American media that they had received no flood warnings before the disaster. They woke up to find floodwaters already up to their knees.

Users on X (formerly Twitter) commented that the CCP’s official death tolls often need to be multiplied several times—or even by tens of times—to reflect the true number of deaths. △