The death toll from Wednesday’s tragedy in southern China continues to tragically rise. The collapse of a highway has now killed 36 people.
At 5:30 a.m. this Thursday, “36 people died and 30 people were injured,” reported the Xinhua news agency, specifying that the lives of the injured people were not in danger.
A “natural geological disaster”
Twenty vehicles were “trapped” by the collapse of a section of road between the city of Meizhou and Dabu county, in Guangdong province, which occurred around 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday, involving 54 people in total, Xinhua reported.
Public broadcaster CCTV said the collapse was a “natural geological disaster” that occurred “under the impact of persistent heavy rains”. Downpours have indeed fallen in recent weeks in this industrial province, of which Canton is the capital, causing serious flooding and landslides. In recent days, the torrential rains have been much heavier than normal for this time of year just before the monsoon season.
“Intensifying climate change increases the likelihood of heavy rains that usually only appear during the summer months,” Yin Zhijie, head of hydrological forecasting at China’s Ministry of Water Resources, told Reuters last month. Chinese national radio.