Highway collapse kills at least 24 in Guangdong

At least 24 people died and 30 injured when part of a highway collapsed in Guangdong province yesterday, the first day of the Labor Day golden week.

State news agency Xinhua said that a stretch of road between Meizhou city and Dabu county caved in at around 2.10am yesterday. The incident caused 20 vehicles to become trapped, involving a total of 54 people, according to the report.

As of 3pm, "24 people have been confirmed dead, and 30 are receiving all-out emergency care in hospital," Xinhua said.

Recovery was ongoing and the lives of those in hospital were "not currently at risk," it added.

An aerial photograph by state broadcaster CCTV showed wrecked vehicles lying in a deep muddy pit.

Dozens of emergency vehicles and cranes congregated along the intact sections of the road.

Videos on social media - apparently filmed before dawn - also showed flames and smoke.

CCTV said the collapse was a "natural geological disaster ... [that occurred] under the impact of persistent heavy rain."

It reported that a nearly 18-meter stretch of road had collapsed.

One of the witnesses, Rao, said: "Half of our car was about to fall while the other half was still on the road, so the driver slammed on the gas and rushed through."

She said they tried to stop the cars behind them with flashlights on their phones. "However, a dozen cars still fell into the pit," she said.

Another witness, who drove past the area right before the collapse, said their car lost control due to the cracked surface.

"Suddenly there was a loud noise and the car went out of control. We woke up immediately and couldn't help screaming," the witness said. "After we stopped the car, we heard there was a pit behind Maybe the road only cracked or had some small pits when we drove over but the cars behind us all fell into the pit, about four to five meters deep."

Authorities have dispatched around 500 people to the site to help with the rescue operation, CCTV reported. They are drawn from departments handling public security, emergency response, firefighting and mining rescue.

Local authorities said in a notice that part of the S12 highway was closed in both directions.

The disasters are attributed to extreme weather events in Guangdong in recent weeks.

Last month's floods in a different part of the province claimed the lives of four and forced over 100,000 to evacuate.

A swirling tornado had killed five people in Guangzhou last week.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com