Labor Day Holiday First Day Tragedy "Presumed Due to Continued Rain"
Heavy Rain and Tornadoes in Recent Days
On the first day of the Labor Day holiday on the 1st (local time) in Guangdong Province, southern China, a highway collapsed, resulting in 24 deaths and 30 injuries.
Highway Collapse Accident Site in Guangdong Province, China [Photo by Xinhua News Agency/United Press]
According to Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV) and other foreign media on the 1st, at around 2:10 a.m., a highway suddenly collapsed in Dabu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, causing 20 vehicles passing through the section to fall down a slope and become buried in soil. CCTV reported that the length of the collapsed road surface was 17.9 meters, with an area of 184.3 square meters.
After the accident, Guangdong Province and Meizhou City established an on-site rescue headquarters and deployed about 500 rescue personnel. It was confirmed that none of the buried vehicles were transporting hazardous materials or were buses.
On Chinese social networking services (SNS), photos showing flames and smoke rising from the slope where the cars fell spread immediately after the accident. There were also posts reporting hearing explosions at the scene.
A woman who passed through the section just before the collapse told local media in an interview, "My husband was driving the car, and my children and I were sleeping when suddenly a tire burst and woke me up," adding, "When the vehicle I was in passed, the road had not completely collapsed, but there was a crack."
The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, but the highway management company suggested through the Pengpai News that it might have been affected by continuous heavy rain.
CCTV also reported that it was a natural geological disaster caused by the ongoing rain.
In Guangdong Province, heavy rain fell for several days starting from the 18th of last month, followed by a tornado on the 27th, causing continuous casualties.
Huang Kunming, Party Secretary of Guangdong Province, instructed that saving lives should be the top priority and emphasized the need for patrols and investigations of potential safety risks on roads saturated with water due to recent heavy rains.
In China, the Labor Day holiday lasts up to five days, making it the third longest holiday after the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and National Day.
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