At the press conference on Saturday night, the mayor of Xingtai city apologized over the Qili River flood incident.

"Firstly, we misjudged the scale and intensity of the rainstorms. Secondly, our officials were not ready to deal with flood situation, because we haven't seen flood for years. Thirdly, we did not update the disaster statistics on time. As the municipal government, we blame ourselves for failing our people, and failing to protect their lives and property. I represent the municipal government, and apologize to the families of all victims, to those who are still missing, refugees and the entire society," said Xingtai mayor Dong Xiaoyu.