China Supervises Probe into Gansu Flood That Killed 25

China’s National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Committee has placed a supervised investigation on the catastrophic mountain flood that struck a popular camping area in Gansu Province on July 26, killing 25 people and injuring 23 others. The committee issued a formal supervision notice on August 1 requiring the Gansu provincial government to conduct a thorough investigation and assessment under the country’s natural disaster investigation framework, according to Xinhua News.

The Disaster

The mountain flood struck at approximately 1:40 p.m. on July 26 in the Shuangshimengou area of Luojiamu Village, Huichuan Town, Weiyuan County, Dingxi City, following sudden short-duration heavy rainfall accompanied by hail. The area is a popular summer camping and self-driving tourism destination located roughly 50 kilometers from Weiyuan County town and about 150 kilometers from Lanzhou, the provincial capital.

The Ministry of Emergency Management reported that the National Flood Control Headquarters activated a Level IV flood emergency response for Gansu and dispatched a working group to the scene. The Gansu Provincial Fire Rescue Corps deployed 305 personnel, 68 fire trucks, and four search dogs, while over 1,000 professional rescue personnel and 164 pieces of heavy machinery were mobilized.

Rescue operations were conducted under extremely difficult conditions. “When the first batch of rescue personnel arrived, the river was surging violently and the road surface was covered with large amounts of debris,” said Li Jiang, head of the Huichuan Town Government Specialized Fire Brigade, as reported by People’s Daily.

Jia Yongjiang, deputy captain of the Weiyuan County Government Specialized Fire Brigade with 19 years of experience, described how communication was completely cut off in the disaster center area and large rescue machinery could not enter. Rescue personnel linked arms to form a human wall, building a temporary lifeline to transfer the elderly and children in batches.

By 5:20 a.m. on July 27, authorities had located 207 people, including 10 deceased, 23 injured, and 174 successfully rescued, according to China Daily. The death toll subsequently rose to 25 as search and rescue operations continued over subsequent days.

Warnings Issued Before the Disaster

Multiple weather warnings were issued hours before the flood struck. The Dingxi City Emergency Management Bureau published a heavy rain warning at 10:27 a.m. specifically warning about risks of mountain floods, geological disasters, and urban waterlogging, recommending that scenic areas closely monitor meteorological information. The Weiyuan County Meteorological Station had issued a thunderstorm yellow warning at 9:06 a.m., and the Dingxi City Meteorological Station issued a heavy rain yellow warning at 10:30 a.m., as documented by The Paper.

Despite these warnings, the disaster still resulted in significant casualties, raising questions about the dissemination of warnings to individual tourists and the enforcement of safety measures at the scenic area.

The Investigation

The supervision notice, numbered 国防减救督〔2026〕1号, was issued under the “Interim Measures for Natural Disaster Investigation and Assessment” (国办发〔2025〕28号), which was established by the State Council in August 2025 to standardize disaster investigation procedures. The official notice document requires Gansu to organize the investigation, submit the report for national review and approval, and publicly release the findings.

This is the second major mountain flood disaster in Gansu in less than a year. In August 2025, extreme rainfall triggered mountain floods in Yuzhong County, causing 32 deaths and 19 missing. The investigation report for that disaster, released in April 2026, determined that extreme rainfall was the direct trigger but noted that accurate forecasting and early warning remained a bottleneck, as The Paper reported.

Questions Over Scenic Area Safety

The Shuangshimengou area, also known as the Shuangshimen Scenic Area, is operated by the Weiyuan County Cultural Industry Development Company. A 2024 proposal from a county political consultative conference member described the scenic area’s management as “coarse,” according to Caixin. The investigation will likely examine whether the operator had adequate safety protocols, emergency evacuation plans, and risk assessment procedures.

Survivor accounts highlight the suddenness of the event. “From the start of the rain to the arrival of the mountain flood, it was probably less than 20 minutes. People had little time to react,” survivor Liu Quan told China News Service. An eyewitness described how “within just a dozen seconds, torrential rain poured down, accompanied by dense hail.”

What’s Next

The Gansu provincial government is required to organize a formal investigation and assessment, submit the report to the National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Committee for review and approval, and publicly release the findings. The investigation is expected to examine the adequacy of weather warning dissemination, scenic area safety management, emergency preparedness, and whether lessons from previous disasters were adequately implemented.

The tragedy has also sparked broader commentary on tourism safety. A People’s Daily commentary noted that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and unpredictable, requiring a paradigm shift in disaster prevention approaches. As the investigation unfolds, the outcome will be closely watched as a test of China’s evolving natural disaster accountability framework.