Recent heavy rain in Beijing, combined with the release of water from multiple reservoirs, has led to severe floods and disasters. In the suburban Miyun District, the Taishitun Town nursing home had 31 elderly residents tragically perish as they were not evacuated in time. Media reports have revealed that access to the nursing home is now restricted, and a previous report by Caixin on elderly residents leaving mud handprints on the walls has been taken down.
The nursing home at the center of this tragedy is located in the Vineyard Village of Taishitun Town. Reporters from the Central News Agency visited the village yesterday and found that it was cordoned off with personnel controlling access, preventing others from entering.
In the vicinity of the Vineyard Village, traces of the flood are evident, with numerous electric poles knocked down and cars washed away, wedged between houses and electric poles. Residents are seen clearing out furniture and mud from their flooded homes.
One resident recalled waking up at 6 am and finding that the power was out. They said, “People outside said the electric pole in front had fallen, and then the water came.”
Local residents told NTD Television that they did not receive flood warnings in advance. Around 4 am on the 28th, they woke up to find water already knee-deep. One resident mentioned, “In less than 5 minutes, the water had entered the house.”
Reportedly, some areas have had their power partially restored, but access to clean water remains a challenge.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the nursing home in Taishitun Town is a few hundred meters away from the town government office, covering an area of 3236 square meters with 80 beds. Officials in Miyun District disclosed that on the day of the flooding, the facility housed a total of 77 individuals, including 8 staff members and 69 elderly residents, among whom 55 were either disabled or partially disabled.
The Beijing municipal government confirmed during a press conference on July 31st that as of noon that day, the death toll from the disaster in the city had reached 44, with 9 people missing or unaccounted for. Among them, 31 individuals from the nursing home in Taishitun Town, Miyun District, lost their lives in the flood.
However, there are concerns that the official figures released by the Chinese government may be downplayed. Authorities failed to disclose the number of reservoirs releasing water simultaneously during the disaster, sparking public criticism.
In a report by Caixin, after the floodwaters receded, journalists entered the nursing home and found watermarks reaching over two meters high. Clear mud handprints on the walls of the rooms appeared to be the final struggles of those who perished. Due to strict control over flood-related information by the Chinese authorities, the Caixin report has been taken down, and related mainland Chinese media accounts have been deleted.
A Beijing citizen, Ms. Wang, expressed to NTD that it’s not just the nursing home that faced issues, as there were several orphanages with incidents that were not reported. She mentioned, “Internal discussions are not allowed. After last year’s flooding in Xiongan, anything related to flooding near or in Beijing, if you post about it on WeChat, your account gets shut down, they don’t let you post on WeChat.”