Death toll rises to 24 after highway collapses in China’s rain-hit Guangdong province
- Dozens in hospital as early hours collapse on Wednesday leaves nearly 18-metre-long crater on highway linking Guangdong to Fujian province
- Accident on first day of long Labour Day holiday is the latest tragedy to hit Guangdong, which has been battling killer floods and tornadoes for weeks
The cave-in happened around 2am in Dabu county of Guangdong’s northern Meizhou city. Nearly 18 metres (59 feet) of the mountainous Meizhou-Dabu highway crumbled into the forested slope below, sending vehicles tumbling down.
In all, 20 vehicles and 54 passengers were caught up in the accident, the local government said, as it issued revised casualty figures on Wednesday afternoon. It had earlier said 18 vehicles and about 50 passengers were affected.
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Dozens killed in highway collapse in China’s rain-hit Guangdong province
In a statement, it said 30 victims had been sent to hospital, while around 500 public security, emergency response, firefighting, health and sanitation and other workers were taking part in the rescue work in the affected area measuring around 184 sq m.
The condition of the hospitalised patients was “not life-threatening at the moment”, the statement said, but did not specify the extent of their injuries.
The reason for the collapse has yet to be declared and the matter is under investigation.
The accident occurred as China began a five-day break for Labour Day, one of the four major holiday and travel periods for the country when highways are toll-free and see heavy traffic.
The others are Lunar New Year, called Spring Festival in China, the Tomb Sweeping Festival and National Day in October.
Footage and pictures shared by local news outlets showed flames and smoke rising from the collapsed section, while charred cars were visible on the gouged out slope. The stricken highway links Guangdong to the seaside city of Quanzhou in southeastern Fujian province.
Witnesses told thepaper.cn, a Shanghai-based news outlet, that they first realised something was wrong when they saw cars ahead turning back around 2am.
According to state news agency Xinhua, the Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working group to the scene to guide the rescue work, while National Fire and Rescue Administration chief Zhou Tian is also at the scene to instruct workers.
It is the latest tragedy to hit Guangdong province, parts of which have experienced a string of extreme weather events in recent weeks, from flash floods to a deadly tornado.
China issues ‘once in a century’ flood warning for Guangdong’s Bei River zone
Guangdong authorities warned on Wednesday that more heavy rainfall was expected during the holiday, with higher risks of floods and landslides in some areas.
As many as 110,000 people in what is China’s richest and most populous province have been forced to relocate in recent weeks as a result of the incessant downpours, which have also damaged homes, shut schools and disrupted transport.
Five people were killed when a tornado tore through the provincial capital Guangzhou on Saturday. Dozens of others were injured. This came a day after the neighbouring tech hub of Shenzhen was forced to close kindergartens and junior schools as well as suspend all outdoor activities due to a heavy rainstorm.
Meizhou city is among five places in Guangdong province reported to have received heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours, the provincial water resources department said on Wednesday afternoon. The flood control emergency response level in Meizhou remains at level four, the highest in China’s four-tier response system.
Wednesday’s highway collapse also came at a time when the risk of disasters related to extreme weather remains high across the country.
State-run CCTV reported that several Chinese government bodies, including emergency response, forestry, agricultural and weather authorities, have jointly forecast a higher risk of floods, storm and hailstorms for the month of May, with large swathes of eastern and southern China to see a significant increase in rainfall.
