At least eight dead in road collapse
Segment failed as sudden flood hit subway tunnel under construction
A task force has been set up to investigate a road collapse on Wednesday that killed at least eight people in Foshan, Guangdong province.
Rescuers were busy searching for three missing workers who have been out of contact since the accident, according to a statement released by the Foshan city government on Thursday.
By Thursday evening, the scene was still closed for further investigation and police were directing traffic.
The collapse happened Wednesday night at Jihua West Road in Chancheng district, a major road in downtown Foshan — a prosperous city in the Pearl River Delta about 20 kilometers from Guangzhou.
About 30 meters of the road collapsed, dropping to a depth of about 6 meters.
A preliminary investigation indicated the accident was caused by a sudden flood at a nearby subway construction site, the statement said.
The flood occurred at about 7 pm Wednesday and the collapse happened when the tunnel segment was damaged by the floodwater at 8:40 pm after efforts to control the flooding failed.
Nine workers who were inside the tunnel were rushed to a nearby hospital, and none of them have life-threatening injuries, the statement said.
Electricity, water and gas supplies to the scene and nearby areas have been cut off to ensure rescue work proceeds smoothly.
Water pumps helped draw water out of the tunnel while air compressors helped ventilate and deliver oxygen into the tunnel.
A resident surnamed Chen said he felt the ground trem- ble when the collapse happened.
“The road collapse, which happened on the city’s busy main road, might affect the normal operation of traffic during the Spring Festival travel rush and the construction of the city’s metro project,” said Chen, who lives in a nearby housing estate.
The Foshan city government has organized departments and experts to monitor and evaluate the settling of the ground and nearby buildings to prevent secondary collapses, said the statement.
The rescue of workers stranded in the tunnel will resume once conditions in the tunnel have stabilized, the statement said.
An inspection campaign has been launched at major construction sites in the city.
Zheng Zhuoen contributed to this story.