At least 36 people have died after part of a highway collapsed in southern China’s Guangdong province. On Thursday, at 5:30, “36 people died and 30 were injured”, announced the state media.
The previous balance was 24 dead and 30 people hospitalized.
Twenty vehicles were “trapped” when a section of road between Meizhou City and Dabu County in Guangdong Province collapsed at around 2.10 local time on Wednesday, killing a total of 54 people, the China News Agency reported.
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State broadcaster CCTV said the collapse was a “natural geological disaster” that occurred “under the impact of persistent heavy rains”.
Torrential rains have lashed the industrial province of Guangdong, whose capital is Guangzhou, in recent weeks, causing severe flooding and landslides. In recent days, 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 rainfall, which usually occurs only in the summer months,” Yin Zhijie, head of the hydrological forecasting department of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, told Radio China last month.
