Death toll jumps to at least 48 as the search continues in southern China highway collapse
BEIJING (AP) — The death toll climbed to 48 on Thursday as search efforts continued in southeastern China after a highway section collapsed in a mountainous area, sending more than 20 cars down a steep slope.
Officials in the city of Meizhou said three other people were unidentified, pending DNA testing. It wasn't immediately clear if they had died, which would bring the death toll to 51. Another 30 people had non-lifethreatening injuries.
The collapse happened about 2 a.m. on Wednesday after a month of heavy rains in a mountainous part of Guangdong province. Vehicles fell down the slope and sent up flames as they caught fire.
The search was still ongoing, Meizhou city Mayor Wang Hui said at a late-afternoon news conference. No foreigners have been found among the victims, he said.
Search work has been hampered by rain and land and gravel sliding down the slope. The disaster left a curving earth-colored gash in the otherwise verdant forest landscape.
"Because some of the vehicles involved caught fire, the difficulty of the rescue operation has increased," said Wen Yongdeng, the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou emergency management bureau.
"Most of the vehicles were buried in soil during the collapse process, with a large volume of soil covering them," he said.
He added that the prolonged heavy rainfall has saturated soil in the area, "making it prone to secondary disasters during the rescue process."
President Xi Jinping said efforts should be made to repair the damaged roads and restore traffic order as soon as possible, said Xi, adding that all regions and relevant departments must adhere to bottom-line thinking, consolidate work responsibilities, strengthen monitoring and early warning, improve emergency plans, promptly investigate and deal with potential risks in key areas and key sectors, and ensure the safety of people's lives and property and the overall social stability.
Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council, has given instructions to spare no effort in rescuing the injured, carry out follow-up work, do everything possible to search and rescue trapped persons, and strictly guard against secondary risks.
The Meizhou city government said that 23 vehicles have been found after a 17.9-meter (58.7-foot) long section of the highway gave way about 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
The search effort was complicated by steady rain, gravel and soil coming down at the site, posing some risk to the workers, a fire department official told Chinese media.
Rescue teams divided the area into 10 grids and searched with dogs and life-detecting devices, the report said. Excavators and cranes were also brought in to help.
The collapse left a barren scar down a steep slope in an otherwise verdant green forested area. Witnesses told local media they heard a loud noise and saw a wide hole open up behind them after driving past the section just before it collapsed.
Video and photos in local media showed smoke and fire at the scene, with a highway guardrail leaning down into the flames. A pile of blackened cars could be seen on the slope leading down from the highway.
A photo later showed a construction crane lowering a mangled car to the road surface, near three other similarly wrecked vehicles. All appeared to have been burned out.