China floods death toll rises to 302 with 50 people still missing

Chinese authorities have raised the official death toll in last month's devastating Henan floods to 302, with at least 50 still missing.

The announcement more than triples the confirmed number of people killed in the floods, which had sat at 99 since Thursday, reports the Guardian. 

At a press conference on Monday, Henan authorities announced 292 people were killed in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, and 47 were missing, state media reported. Another seven were killed and three still missing in Xinxiang city, while two were killed in Pingdingshan and one in Luohe.

Zhengzhou's mayor, Hou Hong, said 39 people were found dead in underground car parks, and six had died in the cross-city tunnel – raising the tunnel's toll from four.

Record-breaking rainstorms hit Henan province in central China in late July, overflowing reservoirs, breaching riverbanks, and overwhelming public transport systems and roads in major cities. In Zhengzhou, more than 600mm of rain, equivalent almost to an average year, fell in just three days.

China routinely experiences flooding in summer, but the impact from the unprecedented deluge was exacerbated by rapid urbanisation, conversion of farmland and the worsening climate crisis, as well as overwhelmed flood mitigation systems.