Officials in a Chinese province deliberately underreported or concealed 139 deaths from last year’s devastating flood disaster, the country’s central government has said, as authorities arrested some of those involved.
Record-breaking rainstorms hit Henan province in central China between 17 and 23 July, overflowing reservoirs, breaching riverbanks, and overwhelming public transport systems and roads in major cities. In the city of Zhengzhou, more than 600mm of rain, equivalent almost to an average year, fell in just three days, flooding metro stations and a cross-city tunnel.
