Beijing (AFP) – A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rain fell in a mountainous area in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and killing at least 36 people, authorities said Thursday.
The Meizhu city government said 23 vehicles were found after a 17.9-meter (58.7-foot) section of the highway collapsed at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday. A government statement said that thirty other people were injured, and none of their lives were in danger.
A fire department official told Chinese media that search efforts were complicated by continuous rain and gravel and soil that fell at the site, posing some risks to workers.
The report said that rescue teams divided the area into 10 grids and searched with dogs and life detection devices. Excavators and cranes were also brought in to help.
The collapse left a barren scar down a steep slope in a lush, green forested area. Witnesses told local media that they heard a loud noise and saw a wide hole opening up behind them after they passed the section just before it collapsed.
Videos and photos published by local media showed smoke and fire at the scene of the accident, with the highway barrier bending amidst the flames. A pile of charred cars was seen on the slope leading down the highway.
A later photo showed a construction crane lowering a mangled car onto the road surface, near three other similarly damaged vehicles. Everyone seemed to be burned out.
Cumulative rainfall in the county where the road collapsed was more than 56 centimeters (22 inches), more than four times that of last year. Some villages in Meizhou were flooded in early April, and the city has witnessed heavy rains in recent days.
It has seen parts of Guangdong Province Recording rainfall and floods In the last two weeks, so has the cold. a The tornado killed five people In Guangzhou, the provincial capital, last weekend.
