Man washed away by flood after saving his mother in east China's Anhui

A man was carried away by a flood and died on Thursday after he pushed his mother onto a rooftop to save her life in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, according to reports. 

The man was among dozens of people killed during the recent devastating floods in Anhui and south China's Guangdong Province as a result of heavy rains.

His surviving mother and a couple next door recalled the moment the accident happened to Chinese media outlet The Paper. The mother was feeding pigs in a pigsty when floodwater started to rise, and she couldn't make it back to the house. Her 48-year-old son jumped from the second floor of the house into the swelling water and came to her rescue by swimming. He managed to lift her onto a rooftop and then tried to swim back to the house, but was carried away by the water. 

According to Chinese media, the man's body was discovered on Friday, roughly 3 kilometers away.

A local official told The Paper that water around the house rose by 4 meters in 8 minutes, making search and rescue efforts difficult.

The parents of the neighboring couple, who were in their 70s, were also reported by The Paper to have gone missing when floodwater broke a wall in their house.

The news of the man saving his mother has touched many viewers on Chinese social media. One user on the Douyin short-video platform commented, "You raised me up when I was little, and now it's my turn to raise you up." The comment has received over 1,600 likes so far.

Videos circulating online also show local residents' destroyed houses and belongings. Some ancient villages, with Hui-style buildings of black roof tiles and white walls, suffered severe losses.

By 6:30 a.m. on Friday, 206,347 people in Huangshan had been affected by the extreme weather, with over 10,955 hectares of crops damaged.

Huangshan City authorities opened a 24-hour hotline to ensure people's requests were promptly addressed and resolved.

Officials from the local cultural relic authorities are on site to assess the damages to key cultural relics.

(Cover: Huangshan City, Anhui Province, east China, June 20, 2024. /CFP )