Nineteen individuals lost their lives following a highway collapse in Guangdong province, China, on Wednesday, as per state broadcaster CCTV.
A segment of the expressway linking Meizhou City and Dapu City in Guangdong Province crumbled around 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday, trapping eighteen vehicles, according to CCTV.
Videos widely shared on social media, filmed in darkness, depicted a fierce blaze beneath where the road had been, with emergency responders on-site.
Pictures taken after sunrise revealed a cluster of vehicles stacked up at the base of a ravine.
By 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, 30 individuals were under medical care in hospitals, with their injuries unspecified but deemed not immediately life-threatening, as per CCTV.
The Guangdong provincial government mobilized a rescue team comprising roughly 500 personnel, the state broadcaster noted.
Rescue operations were ongoing, according to an update from the local police department.
In recent weeks, southern China has experienced heavy rainfall.
Guangdong province, a thriving economic hub with a population of 127 million, has witnessed widespread flooding, leading to the relocation of over 110,000 people, as reported by state media citing local authorities.
The floods have resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals in Guangdong, including one rescue worker, as per state news agency Xinhua's report on Monday. Ten people are still unaccounted for, it added.
