Firefighters rescue residents trapped in flooding in east China province

China: Firefighters, together with other rescue forces, helped evacuate people trapped in their houses swallowed by raging floods in the east China Anhui Province.

In the town of Guzhen, Lu'an City, 15 villages were flooded on Tuesday. More than 10,000 people were evacuated and 6,000 others were still trapped in their houses. As the raging floods cut off the water and electric supply and blocked the roads, rescuers deployed more boats and emergency vehicles to ensure the smooth operation.

Rescue forces from neighboring Henan, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces came to their aid. On Monday, firefighters from Henan Province found several people, including an 80-year-old lady, trapped on the second floor of a building. Firefighters used ropes to climb to the second floor, tying the old lady's waist with a bed sheet and slowly took her to the rescue boat.

On Monday, firefighters transferred more than 600 trapped people.

The uninterrupted downpours caused flooding in the county of Shouxian, Huinan City. As most of the trapped were old people, pregnant women or children, firefighters took them on their backs or helped them to the boats. As of Monday afternoon, the local fire department evacuated and relocated more than 560 people.

In the Hanshan County, Ma'anshan City, many residential buildings in the low-lying areas were in water, with the deepest part measuring two meters. At about 06:00 on Tuesday morning, firefighters took inflatable boats to rescue trapped people in the Hulou Village. After a whole morning's effort, firefighters found and rescued all the 36 trapped people in the village.