At least 24 people died this Wednesday (05/01/2024) due to the collapse of part of a highway in the province of Guangzhou, in southern China, state media reported.
As of 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday (07:00 GMT), “24 people have been confirmed dead and another 30 are receiving emergency care in hospital,” the state news agency Xinhua reported.
The CCTV network reported that a section of the highway between the city of Meizhou and Dabu county, in Guangzhou province, collapsed in the early hours of the morning.
“The incident caused 18 vehicles to become trapped and 31 people to be rescued from the scene and sent for hospital treatment,” the television network first reported.
Dip in the road
In videos published by local media, flames and smoke are seen emerging from a sinkhole in the road into which the vehicles would have fallen.
“Seven or eight parts of the bridge have collapsed (…) You can’t go any further,” says a man in one of these videos.
The state broadcaster said rescue teams had mobilized security and emergency personnel, firefighters and health workers.
Local authorities said in a notice that part of the S12 highway was closed in both directions.
The causes of the collapse were not immediately specified, but it is estimated that the accident occurred due to heavy rains in recent days in the province of Guangzhou, which has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent weeks, with flooding or a tornado.
mg (afp, ap)
