Subsequent torrential rainfall leads to 48 fatalities due to partial highway collapse in China.
As revealed by Ma Zhengyong, secretary of the Communist Party in Meizhou, there have been 48 reported deaths in a press conference, with an additional three cases undergoing DNA matching and investigation. The final count of those included in the 48 deaths remains uncertain.
Xinhua reported that a highway section collapsed, leading to numerous vehicles sinking into the depths. The initial death toll mentioned 19 people, which has since been revised up to 30 injuries, with one person in a "serious condition" and the others in stable condition. Rescue work carried on throughout Thursday.
Photos published online showed charred, wrecked cars amidst a muddy pit where the once-standing highway rested. Flames could also be glimpsed in some of these images. There were numerous emergency vehicles and cranes gathered near the remaining intact section of the street, which snaked along a steep, forested incline. Workers used cranes to lift wrecked cars, while other emergency vehicles stood by.
More than 570 emergency personnel were present at the scene, leading to a full closure of the road in both directions.
China's President Xi Jinping issued instructions to "push ahead with rescue work and care for the injured with all their might," according to CCTV. The provincial government assembled "elite special forces" and spared no effort to execute search and rescue operations, Xinhua detailed.
CCTV described the collapse as a "natural geological disaster," with the "constant heavy rain" contributing to the event. A nearly 18-meter-long section of the road had succumbed to this natural disaster.
Within the southern province of Guangdong, authorities had issued a top warning level for some areas, anticipating landslides and flash floods during the recent onslaught of heavy rainfall. At least four people had lost their lives since the onset of rainfall, and numerous others had gone missing. Over 100,000 residents were forced from their homes.
Around the central and eastern portions of Guangdong province, there had fallen nearly 600 millimeters of rain in the past ten days, three times the average rainfall for this time of year. For the southwestern regions of the province, the Chinese meteorological authority anticipated another 120 millimeters of rain by Sunday. Such weather conditions heightened the risk of disasters, especially geological disasters.
In recent years, China has experienced an onslaught of severe flooding, destructive droughts, and record-breaking heat. China acts as the global leader in releasing greenhouse gases. Last week, in the southeastern megacity of Guangzhou, five people perished in a tornado. Global warming is driving a rise in the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events.
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Source: www.stern.de
