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The road collapsed in the wee hours of Wednesday, the first day
of the five-day May Day holiday break as millions in the country
travel.
The collapse, triggered by heavy rain, occurred at around 2:10
a.m. on the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway, Xinhua news agency
reported, adding that 17.9 meters (58.7 feet) of the road gave
way and caused 23 vehicles to plunge. Another 30 people
sustained injuries, it said.
Meizhou is one of the areas in southern China's Guangdong that
has been badly hit by heavy rain and hail since late April which
set off dangerous mudslides, inundated homes and destroyed
bridges.
Meizhou officials told a press conference on Thursday
livestreamed on state broadcaster CCTV that 577 relief personnel
and more than 80 rescue vehicles and equipment had been
dispatched to the site but rescue work proved difficult as some
vehicles were buried deep in the mud after their fall.
Video from state media showed a twisted metal guardrail and a
big hole in the path of the forested green area where the
collapse happened. Rescue personnel with cranes and excavators
as well as a few damaged cars could also be seen.
Some vehicles fell and caught fire, according to social media
accounts in China. A driver of a vehicle said in a video posted
on Weibo he saw a crack in the road in front of him and mistook
it for a puddle, but sped off before the road collapsed.
President Xi Jinping called for the utmost efforts to save lives
and eliminate danger as rainy weather continued in the region,
according to a Xinhua report.
Task forces from the central and local governments have been
dispatched for the rescue work, the report added.
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Ma Rong; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman)
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