The overturning of a section of highway in southern China left 36 dead, according to a new report released on Thursday by state media, Agerpres reports. The Xinhua news agency reported at 05:30 on Thursday (Wednesday, 21:20 GMT) that “36 people lost their lives and 30 people were injured”, stating that the lives of the injured were not in danger.
Twenty vehicles were “caught up” in the derailment on a stretch of highway between Meizhou City and Dabu County in Guangdong Province at around 02:10 on Wednesday (18:10 GMT Tuesday), in which 54 people were involved. total, Xinhua had indicated.
State broadcaster CCTV said the outburst was a “natural geological disaster” that occurred “under the impact of persistent heavy rains”.
Heavy downpours have lashed the industrial province of Guangdong, which has Canton as its capital, in recent weeks, causing severe flooding and landslides. For the past few days, the torrential rains have been much heavier than normal for this time of the year just ahead of the monsoon season.
“Intensification of climate change” increases the likelihood of “heavy rains that usually occur only in the summer months,” Yin Zhijie, in charge of hydrological forecasting at China’s Ministry of Water Resources, told national radio last month.
