The death toll from a collapsed mountainside highway in China’s southern Guangdong province has risen to 48 as of Thursday, according to reports in Chinese state-owned media.
The incident occurred in the early midnight hours of Wednesday, May 1, when a roughly 59-foot-long section of the highway collapsed, sending vehicles down a slope.
China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday that the Emergency Management Ministry has dispatched a team to guide the ongoing rescue work, urging local efforts to accelerate search and rescue work, treat those who sustained injuries, minimize casualties, and determine the cause of the incident.
Witnesses reportedly said that they heard a loud noise and saw a wide hole open up behind them after driving past the section just before it collapsed.
“We stopped and got out of the car to check and had no idea the road had collapsed,” a witness told Guizhou China.
Other footage shows smoke and fire at the scene of the accident, with some of the highway’s guardrails slanting down into the flames and a pile of blackened vehicles on the slope leading down from the highway.
While Chinese authorities have not formally stated the cause of the collapse at press time, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Wednesday that, according to statements issued by a geotechnical engineer to local media, the accident may have been caused as a result of the intense rainfall the province has experienced in recent weeks.
“The recent continuous downpour in the area washed away the soil on the surface and entered the crevices to generate water pressure, pushing the earth downwards,” an engineer surnamed Chen reportedly told Jiemian News. “It may have been triggered by the poor drainage after prolonged rainfall, leading to the continuous deformation and expansion of the parts prone to cracks, ultimately leading to the collapse.”
The engineer also reportedly stated that an adequate monitoring and warning system was “not properly in place,” adding that such landslides could usually be spotted in the early stages and could be prevented.
Chinese authorities are reportedly conducting investigations on the DNA of three yet-to-be identified people, which could raise the death toll to 51. Roughly 30 people were left with non-life-threatening injuries, according to information provided by the authorities of Meizhou City.
In late April, intense rainstorms in southern China left four dead, while a tornado that swept through the southern city of Guangzhou killed five more and left dozens injured and more than 140 buildings reportedly damaged.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.