As floodwater crashed through a busy subway station in China on Tuesday, desperate passengers tried to flee while others were swept helplessly off platforms.

In one train carriage, water seeped in and rose from ankle, to waist, to neck-height. Panicked commuters stretched upwards to breathe, while others lifted shorter people into the shrinking air pocket above.

In terrifying videos shared on social media, some passengers can be seen standing on chairs and clinging to the ceiling as the floodwater creeps upwards. One tried to smash a window, before realising that there was even more water outside the carriage.

Some filmed the unfolding tragedy, while others called loved ones or posted pleas for help. "I can't speak anymore," one woman wrote on the social media site Weibo. "If no rescue comes in 20 minutes, hundreds of us will lose our lives."

"We were all standing on the seats, and the water was already on our knees," a woman who gave her name as Ms Li told Elephant News.

"Some shorter passengers had water up to their necks," she said, adding that as time went on the air supply began to diminish.

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57920412