Rescue workers deployed to Henan after river breach

China's Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched 200 engineering rescue personnel to Zhoukou, Henan province, after an embankment along the Jialu River breached late on Thursday, the ministry said on Friday.

The breach occurred at around 11 pm on Aug 13 on the eastern embankment of the Jialu River in Chuanhui district, Zhoukou.

According to the ministry, the breach was caused by increased inflows from the upper reaches of the Jialu River and backwater pressure from the Shaying River.

The ministry mobilized 200 personnel from China Anneng Group, a construction engineering company, along with 110 sets of large engineering machinery and equipment, including powered pontoon bridges, amphibious excavators and loaders, to support emergency operations in the affected area.

The rescue teams and equipment arrived at the site by 10 am on Friday and immediately began emergency response and repair work, the ministry said.

Also on Friday, the National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief activated a Level IV national emergency response, the lowest level in the country's four-tier disaster-relief emergency response system, for disaster relief in Henan after the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin and heavy rainfall caused severe impacts in the province.

On the same day, the commission's office and the Ministry of Emergency Management, together with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, allocated 30,000 pieces of central disaster-relief supplies to Henan following continued heavy rainfall and flooding in areas including Zhoukou and Xuchang.