Highway collapse in Southern China Results in 36 Fatalities
BEIJING (AP) — In a tragic incident early Wednesday, a significant portion of a highway in southern China gave way following persistent heavy rainfall, resulting in at least 36 fatalities and numerous injuries. The collapse occurred around 2 a.m., sending vehicles plunging into a deep chasm formed along the highway near Meizhou city in Guangdong province.
The Meizhou city government reported the retrieval of 23 vehicles from a sizable pit, where a 17.9-meter long stretch of the highway had collapsed, underscoring the severity of the accident. Authorities confirmed that 30 individuals sustained injuries; however, these were not life-threatening.
The region has been battered by extreme weather conditions over the past two weeks, experiencing record rainfall, severe flooding, and unusual weather phenomena, including hail and a tornado in Guangzhou that claimed five lives last weekend.
Local officials noted that some villages in Meizhou were inundated in early April, and the area had been subjected to heavy rains in the days leading up to the disaster. The saturated soil, weakened by the deluge, likely contributed to the structural failure of the highway.
Eyewitnesses recounted to local media a terrifying scene where they heard a loud crash and saw the road disintegrate into a vast void behind them as they drove past the affected section moments before it collapsed.
Rescue and emergency response teams rushed to the site, where images and video footage depicted smoke and flames rising from the wreckage, with highway guardrails twisted and slanting perilously into the conflagration below. A grim scene of charred and mangled vehicles was visible on the slope beneath the highway, painting a stark picture of the sudden and lethal nature of the collapse.
The incident has prompted an urgent review of infrastructure safety across the region, particularly in areas prone to extreme weather events. The local government has initiated a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse to prevent future tragedies.
As recovery efforts continue, the community mourns the loss of life and the disruption caused by this calamity, while officials and citizens alike call for enhanced measures to bolster infrastructure resilience in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
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