China News Service, Zhengzhou, July 22 (Reporter Lang Lang) "There was crying at the scene. It can be said to be horrible. We are very anxious and very painful." More than 30 hours have passed since the rescue, and I faced reporters recalling the rescue. During the process, firefighter Yang Chaobo still couldn't hide his excitement.

　　Yang Chaobo is the captain of the Railway Station Brigade of the Zhengzhou Fire Rescue Detachment. He was the first group of rescuers to arrive at the Haitansi Station of Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 at 8pm on the 20th.

The picture shows the exit of Shakou Road Station of Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 in danger on the evening of July 20.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Guigang

Water pours into the subway station like a yellow river

　　On the 20th, Zhengzhou, Henan, this inland capital city became the focus of national public opinion due to a rare heavy rain in history.

　　In fact, by the 20th, the rain in Zhengzhou had been raining for 4 full days. For many outsiders, people realized that the severity of the rainstorm in Zhengzhou was largely due to the Zhengzhou Metro 5 posted on the Internet. Line number is flooded with video.

　　On the evening of the 20th, Zhengzhou, which has issued a flood prevention level I emergency response, was carrying out the evening rush hour of urban traffic in heavy downpour.

The road area is very watery, and the subway is the only choice for many people to go home. However, there is still water flowing into the subway at the same time as the crowd.

　　The galloping subway, the crowd returning home, the increasingly unstoppable rain...the danger came immediately.

　　A subway train was forced to suspend operations at Bintang Temple Station and Shakou Road Station. Hundreds of passengers were trapped in the carriages and the doors could not be opened. The water in the car quickly reached the waist, and the water level outside the car windows was higher.

In a crowded carriage, passengers have become more and more difficult to breathe.

　　The signal for help was sent out constantly. At about 8 o'clock in the evening, Yang Chaobo received the task of rushing to the subway for rescue. It took them more than 10 minutes to get to the subway beach temple station.

　　"The yellow water is still flowing into the subway station like the Yellow River. When we arrived, the water on the platform had already passed the calf, and the train in the tunnel could not be seen."

　　Some team members tried to swim through the tunnel to find the train's position, but the tunnel was dark. "The water has covered the shoulders and the feet cannot reach the ground."

　　In a critical situation, Yang Chaobo judged that the method of searching for the trapped train from Haitansi Station was not feasible.

While constantly confirming the location of the train and the number of trapped persons to the subway personnel, he requested support from the command center.

On July 20, Zhengzhou's continued heavy rainfall caused serious water accumulation in some streets.

Photo by Kan Li, China News Agency reporter

Faster!

There are many people in the car!

　　Videos of subway trains being trapped began to spread on the Internet. Passengers scrambled to stand on the seats and hugged the subway handrails.

Unbelievable images quickly spread across the Internet, and "Zhengzhou Metro Line 5" became the focus of attention from the outside world about the rain disaster in Henan.

　　The rain is still falling, and the rescue team's time is getting more and more urgent.

　　After confirming that the next stop of the trapped train, Shakou Road Station, the terrain was higher, Yang Chaobo immediately decided to change the rescue strategy and took some team members to Shakou Road Station to rescue the trapped train at both ends of the tunnel at the same time.

　　At that time, the Zhengzhou urban area after nightfall was full of cars that were washed away by stagnant water. The road surface was too deep to allow rescue vehicles to drive, and Yang Chaobo could only take the rescue team there on foot.

　　"I am very anxious, but the road is no longer able to pass. Everyone can only wade along the green belts and isolation belts to drive forward."

　　During this section of the road, the rescue team was not easy to walk.

Passing through a garbage transfer station, over two 2-meter-high walls, smashed open the spare door of the community... They finally arrived at Shakou Road Station.

　　Seeing the firefighters coming, many people yelled to them anxiously at the subway entrance, "Hurry up! There are many people in the car!" Most of these people were relatives of the trapped people who came after receiving messages for help.

　　Yang Chaobo was even more anxious, because the standing water on the Shakou Road platform could not reach his knees, and the tunnel became a river. They saw no cars or people.

The picture shows Zhengzhou citizens sheltering from the rain in front of Metro Line 2.

Kan Lishe

The water is in a hurry, everyone dare not come out hastily

　　With the worst plan, Yang Chaobo and the rescue team approached the direction of the trapped subway with difficulty.

　　"Fortunately, we found that this train is indeed closer to Shakou Road Station, and the car has reached the point where it is about to enter the station."

　　The difficulty of rescuing a trapped subway in a "river" can be imagined.

Yang Chaobo discovered that the last car of this subway was completely submerged in water. Before the firefighters arrived, there were staff members helping passengers escape.

　　Yang Chaobo and the others acted in groups. Some people went to check the trapped people in the car, and some people set up life-saving passages, and made protective measures in the form of life-saving ropes and human walls to guide the rescue.

　　The subway tunnel was narrow. Yang Chaobo heard crying and crying for help, but the people who escaped from the car couldn't ask much useful information. He only knew that there were many people trapped in the car, and some people had fainted. The situation was urgent.

　　They shouted to the trapped people: "We are here, don't panic everyone, evacuate out one by one in order according to our requirements!"

　　Why did the train stop in the tunnel? Later Yang Chaobo learned that the driver of the train saw water pouring into the tunnel when he was driving, and he made an emergency stop and tried to drive the car in the opposite direction, but it was too late. The rear of the car had been flooded with water.

　　The conductor organized personnel to gather in front of the higher-lying car. There were many people in the car, the water had passed the waist, and the air in the car was very stuffy.

　　At the beginning, the door could not be opened, and the situation was critical. The conductor opened a door in the front carriage, ready to let the personnel out.

The first person who came out found that the water was in a hurry, "Everyone dared not come out rashly and went back to the compartment and closed the door."

The picture shows the exit of Shakou Road Station of Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 in danger on the evening of July 20.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Guigang

The young man is carrying the old man and the child, the man is supporting the woman

　　Time is running out.

　　The rescuer Yang Chaobo and the team members contacted the subway staff to break the window with a fire hammer, and carried out rescue and evacuation from the two passages of the door and the window.

　　At this time, the water in the tunnel did not rise any more, but the current was still very urgent, making rescue operations more difficult.

　　The front car is 20 to 30 meters away from the subway platform. With the help of safety ropes, rescue team members and subway staff stand on the wall to organize trapped passengers to evacuate in the water.

　　From 8 o'clock to 12 o'clock, the evacuation lasted for three or four hours. "I can't see how many people there are. People seem to be evacuated forever, and the team members are very suffering."

　　During the rescue, Yang Chaobo learned that when the carriage was trapped, the passengers spontaneously sent the elderly and children to the highest point of the train.

　　During the entire rescue process, the elderly and children were the first to go out. Everyone supported each other. The young people carried the elderly and children on their backs, and the male passengers supported the female passengers.

"There are so many people who have been trapped for so long, and no one proposed to leave first, even the disabled and pregnant women. We are also very touched."

　　There were 20 or 30 people who were evacuated in the last batch. Some people shouted "Thank you fireman." Yang Chaobo and many team members shed tears on the spot either because they were moved, or comforted, or tired.

　　On the afternoon of the 22nd, the operation branch of Zhengzhou Rail Transit Co., Ltd. notified that on the 20th, there was serious water accumulation in the Wulongkou parking lot and its surrounding area of ​​Metro Line 5. At 18:00, the water broke the retaining wall of the entrance line and entered. In the main line section, a train of Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 was forced to stop in the section between Shakou Road Station and Haitansi Station, and more than 500 passengers were trapped.

　　In this accident, 12 passengers died unfortunately after the rescue was unsuccessful. 5 passengers were sent to hospital for observation and their vital signs were stable.

　　Recalling the unforgettable rescue experience that night, Yang Chaobo told reporters the most intuitive feeling: "If we go a little later and the water rises a little bit, the consequences will be disastrous. With so many people, how many families are they connected to..." (End) )