CHINA’S military blasted a dam to release floodwaters threatening one of its most heavily populated provinces as the death toll rose to at least 25.

The dam operation in the city of Luoyang on Tuesday night took place as severe floods overwhelmed the Henan provincial capital of Zhengzhou, trapping residents in the metro and stranding them at schools, apartments and offices.

Another seven people were reported missing, provincial officials said.

Footage by news site the Paper showed metro passengers standing in chest-high muddy brown water as torrents raged in the tunnel outside.

Floodings have devastated parts of Europe too recently.

Today, Germany’s Cabinet approved a roughly €400 million package of immediate aid for flood victims and vowed to start quickly rebuilding devastated areas.

The total cost of the task is expected to be well into the billions.

At least 171 people were killed in Germany, well over half of them in Ahrweiler county, near Bonn, when small rivers swelled quickly into raging torrents last week following persistent downpours.

Another 31 died in neighbouring Belgium.

About 7,000 homes in Valkenburg, a southern Dutch town, were badly damaged with residents having to seek temporary accommodation.