Govt defends attempts to save woman from flooded car

The local government of Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, said on Sunday that it tried to save a female driver who became trapped in a tunnel and drowned in a storm two days earlier.

The woman, 31, drove to the railway station to pick up her husband and son. According to the woman's husband, surnamed Huang, she called him at about 4:40 am, saying that her car was flooded in water up to her knees. She said she had called the police.

Fifteen minutes later, she called again and said, "The water has risen close to my neck. I am waiting to be rescued and tried to opened the car door."

At 5:13 am, she made a final call to a friend of Huang.

The emergency office of Nanshan district government told media that the first group of rescuers arrived at 5:04 am, nearly 20 minutes after the initial emergency call, but they were unable to rescue the stranded woman.

The rescue team, composed of about 20 firemen and policemen, spotted the trapped car at 5:10 am, according to the office.

Six members wearing life jackets approached the car but were unable to open the door with their hands. They used a tool to break the passenger-side window. One of the rescuers entered the car, but there was no sign of the driver.

At 5:39 am, the storm got worse, and the car was washed away by the flood. An alarm sounded at a nearby electricity facility and the rescuers left the area.

The team asked for assistance from the professional marine police, who arrived at about 7:30 am. They found the victim in the back seat of the car about 40 minutes later.

The woman was pronounced dead by medial workers at 8:25 am.

According to the local disaster management office, nearly 500 cars were destroyed in the flooding on Aug 30.

A 20-year-old hair dresser was also killed in the storm after he suffered an electric shock while standing in the water.

Chen Wenli and Zhao Yang contributed to this story.