Rescue underway after Gansu flash flood

Rescuers resumed searches at a flash flood site in Gansu province on Monday after four rounds of overnight operations, using drones to locate vehicles swept away by the torrent, which hit a scenic area in Weiyuan county of Dingxi on Sunday afternoon.

The flood, triggered by torrential rain, swept through a popular camping area, killing 10 people and injuring 23. Another 247 people were evacuated and relocated, the Gansu provincial fire and rescue corps said.

Individualized treatment is being provided to the injured, most of whom suffered fractures, open wounds and aspiration pneumonia. Two temporary shelters have been set up to accommodate the affected tourists.

The Gansu provincial fire and rescue corps has sent 305 firefighters, 68 fire engines and four search dogs to the site, where search efforts are continuing despite poor weather conditions.

Lu Jun, head of the corps, said the rescuers completed three rounds of searches covering a 3-kilometer radius before launching a fourth round overnight. Search teams are working with heavy machinery and search dogs in coordination with the police. The teams are using location data from mobile phones and smartwatches to find the missing.

Wu Mingguo, head of the Dingxi fire and rescue detachment, said that three drones were deployed during the fourth round of searches to locate swept away vehicles and identify areas where personal belongings had been spotted floating on the water.

The search operations remained challenging due to inclement weather conditions in the mountainous valley. The normally narrow river near the camping site, less than 2 meters wide on average, has expanded to more than 50 meters at its widest point after the flash flood, while fast-moving water carrying rocks, mud and debris is complicating rescue work.

It has also been raining continuously since early Monday morning. The rescue teams were forced to stop the search when the rain intensified, and resumed operations once conditions improved.

One tourist, surnamed Niu, who was camping at the Shuangshimen scenic area in Weiyuan, said, "The rain came down so heavily that the windshield wipers could barely keep up, and we could not see the road ahead."

"When we realized the situation was getting worse, we left the car and rushed downhill," he added.

Niu said the downpour lasted about 40 minutes. When he returned after the rain stopped, he found his vehicle filled with sand and debris.

"By then, firefighters were already at the scene. They rescued many stranded tourists," he said.

Shuangshimen is a popular summer destination for self-driving tourists, featuring forests, grasslands and streams. The entrance to the scenic area sits at the lowest point of a narrow valley, making it particularly vulnerable to flash floods.

More than 30 vehicles were swept away and piled up on a flat area near the scenic site, while stranded visitors took shelter on a nearby hillside, one rescuer said.

"Where the current was too strong, excavators helped us reach stranded people," the rescuer added. "In areas inaccessible to machinery, rescuers formed human chains and used ropes to bring people back to safety."