More than 200 wading vehicles were dragged out of the Zhengzhou Jingguang Tunnel, and the number of victims is being verified
According to reports: At 2 pm on July 23, a black Chevrolet car was towed out of the Jingguang North Road tunnel. Standing on the side of the road and watching, Yang Tian frame shouted "mine" and rushed away from the crowd of onlookers to the trailer.
The Jingguang North Road Tunnel has a total length of 1835 meters and a total of six lanes in both directions. It is the main artery of north-south traffic in Zhengzhou and is not far from the Jingguang South Road Tunnel. During the heavy rain in Zhengzhou, the Beijing-Guangzhou Tunnel was one of the places with the most serious water accumulation. More than 200 cars were trapped. According to the on-site drainage rescue staff, the deepest accumulated water in the tunnel reached about 13 meters. Since the afternoon of July 21, the pump has been pumping water continuously at a flow rate of 3000 cubic meters per hour.
At 6 pm on July 23, the stagnant water at the south entrance of the Jingguang North Road Tunnel was pumped out, revealing the entrance. At the north entrance of the Jingguang North Road Tunnel, the pump is still working. There is still water inside the Jingguang South Road Tunnel, and the pumping work continues.
Currently, rescue and clean-up work is still continuing. According to Li Ping, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Zhengzhou Urban Management Bureau, it was visually observed that there were no trapped vehicles in the tunnel.
Fright escape
At 2 pm on July 23, a black Chevrolet car was dragged out of the tunnel, and the yellow silt covered with the car body was flowing along the road. Standing on the roadside steps and watching Yang Tian Frame, he shouted "mine" and rushed away from the crowd of onlookers to the trailer.
Yang Tianjian followed his brother to do business in Zhengzhou, and his mother and 9-year-old daughter returned to their hometown in Shangqiu. On the afternoon of July 20th, Yang Tianjian originally planned to go home and rest for a few days. She packed her daughter's clean shoes in a snakeskin bag, and threw it into the trunk with three bottles of liquor, preparing to take it back to her hometown.
Before going out, the map navigation recommended two roads, one through Lianhuo Expressway and the other through Jingguang Tunnel. Yang Tianframe repeated the navigation three times and chose the latter. "At that time, the side (the road condition) was all green, so I went here."
On the morning of July 20, it started to rain in Zhengzhou. But until Yang Tianjia entered the tunnel around 5 pm, there was no water on the side of the road.
Seeing the exit is approaching, danger is also coming. Yang Tianjian saw that the stagnant water was flowing back into the tunnel from the exit, and the water spray rolled up by the front wheel was less than half of the wheel, and the taillights began to flash.
The rainwater refills the tunnel, which seems not strange to Yang Tianji, who often drives. He and an escort vehicle in the outer lane moved slowly forward side by side, basically in a "car" state.
Water came up from the chassis of the car and squeezed into the car from the seam of the door. Yang Tianjian thought, and walked as far as possible. It was safe after exiting the tunnel, but the car in front was no longer moving.
In just ten minutes, Yang Tianjian felt the accumulation of water in the tunnel rising rapidly. The water in the driver's cabin soon passed his ankles, Yang Tianjian gave up struggling, turned off the engine and got out of the car, without having time to remove the car keys.
“It’s a bit difficult to push the door. One third of the door is under the water.” Yang Tianjian felt the pressure of the water hitting his legs as soon as he got out of the car. He staggered and almost fell and his shoes were washed away. One.
At this time, the car in front was already floating on the water, and the people in the car had not gotten out of the car and fled. Yang Tianjian patted his car window as he passed by, calling them to get out of the car and leave.
When he was about to get out of the tunnel, Yang Tianjian saw that most of the car owners had gotten off the car. Some people were supporting them and walking out. Some people stood by the guardrail at the exit and shouted, "Don't get in the car, get out of the car."
After coming out of the tunnel, the road surface had reached the waist, Yang Tianjian followed the crowd onto the viaduct next to him to avoid danger.
According to Yang Tianjian's recall, his parking position was only about 300 meters away from the tunnel, and the distance he drove in a flash, and he had walked in the water for more than 20 minutes to be considered as an escape.
Leash to save people
Yan Quanhu, 56 years old, lives next to the south entrance of the Jingguang North Road Tunnel. Standing on the balcony of his home, he could look down at the entire situation outside the tunnel.
At two o'clock in the afternoon on July 20, Yan Quanhu noticed that the accumulated water outside the tunnel had gone to his ankles and poured into the tunnel along the road. The car slowly drove out of the tunnel, rushing into waves.
At about 5 in the afternoon, Yan Quanhu saw people walking from inside and out of the tunnel, and the accumulation of water had reached his waist. He realized the danger.
Yan Quanhu hurriedly called to the neighbor's eldest brother, and went downstairs to help save people. "I know how to water (swim). I didn't think about anything at that time, so I wanted to save people."
Both Yan Quanhu and his neighbor’s eldest brother are engaged in air-conditioning disassembly work. There is always a rope at home to lift and lower the air-conditioning box. Yan Quanhu took four bundles of ropes and went downstairs. He tied one end of the rope to the telephone pole at the entrance of the tunnel, and the other end was connected to the telephone pole on the side of the road. A ropeway for traction was set up between the tunnel and the steps on the side of the road.
"The water rushed so hard that (people) couldn't stand. Even if they fell down, they couldn't stand up. They were washed away." Yan Quanhu pulled the rope and went into the water to help the elderly. It was not until about 7pm on the 20th that no one was seen. Go out of the tunnel.
According to Yan Quanhu's recollection, on the night of the 20th, the steps on the roadside and the viaduct next to it were full of people.
The staff of the hotel near the entrance of the tunnel told reporters that in the afternoon, stagnant water flowed from the road directly over the steps in front of the hotel, and the hotel was unable to operate due to a power outage. Seeing that there were more and more people outside, the staff led the pedestrians at the door to the hotel and hid in the corridor upstairs to avoid danger. "All the people standing in the corridor are people."
With cold rain and fear, Yang Tianjian, who was out of danger, stood on the elevated trembling all over, knocking on the roadside car to avoid the rain. It was not until early morning that he walked down the viaduct and went home. "Just thinking about running quickly, I didn't pull out the key after turning out the train."
On the morning of July 21st, Yang Tianjian returned to the tunnel and saw that the tunnel entrance was full of cars. “They were all piled up, squeezed one by one, all floating up.” Yang Tianjian stood by the tunnel every day, waiting for himself. The car was salvaged.
Yesterday afternoon, the Chevrolet framed by Yang Tian was unloaded by a trailer on the side of the road. A thick layer of silt accumulated on the roof, and the body was filled with water. Yang Tianjian scraped off the silt from the car body and dipped the water out of the car with a towel. The silt was all over his body. "Get it back to the repair shop first to see if it's worth repairing."
Yang Tianjian took out the wallet and driving permit from the storage box on the car, and dripped water down. Yang Tianjian carefully opened the driving permit and wallet, and placed them on the side of the road to dry. Pedestrians in the past advised him, "If the car is soaked, it will soak, as long as people get out."
Difficult rescue
At 6 pm on July 23, the stagnant water at the south entrance of the Jingguang North Road Tunnel was pumped out, revealing the tunnel entrance. At the north entrance of the tunnel, the water pump is still pumping water continuously, and the accumulated water is discharged to the main road above the tunnel, and then introduced into the roadside sewer. There is still water inside the Jingguang South Road tunnel, and the pumping work is still going on. It is necessary to wait for all the water to be pumped out before the silt in the tunnel can be cleaned.
Trapped vehicles have also been dragged out of the tunnel and temporarily parked on the side of the road. Police and firefighters continued to search and rescue at the scene. At the same time, sanitation vehicles entered the tunnel one after another to treat sewage and silt in the tunnel.
According to the on-site drainage rescue staff, the deepest accumulated water in the tunnel reached about 13 meters. Since the afternoon of July 21, the pump has been pumping water continuously at a flow rate of 3000 cubic meters per hour.
Li Ping, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Zhengzhou Urban Management Bureau, introduced at the scene yesterday morning that the Beijing-Guangzhou tunnel is equipped with professional drainage equipment, but the drainage pipeline is blocked by a large amount of silt, which causes the tunnel to be poorly drained. The silt deposition at the bottom of the tunnel and the stacking of wading vehicles have increased the difficulty of rescue.
Li Ping said that after three days of pumping search and rescue, more than 200 wading vehicles have been pulled out, "less than 300". When the water level in the tunnel dropped to 1.2 meters to 1.5 meters, it was visually observed that no other vehicles were trapped in the tunnel. But whether there are any trapped persons in the tunnel, Li Ping said that he is still unsure, "I don't dare to say that there must be none."
According to reports, people have been confirmed dead, and the exact number is still being verified. The reporter learned that on July 21, the bodies of two victims were found during the drainage search and rescue process.
According to videos provided by surrounding residents, there were only five or six trapped vehicles left at the south entrance of the Jingguang North Road Tunnel yesterday afternoon.
When the trailer was ready for transfer at the entrance, a policeman walked quickly to the car, bent over to look at the cab and inside of the car, and then waved his hand back. Residents nearby said with emotion, "This shows that there is no one in the car. This is the most beautiful gesture."