(RepublicanJournal.org) – Water is one of the most dangerous elements. Overflowing rivers and lakes, and heavy rains can cause extreme devastation. In China, where it rained for more than a month, part of a highway collapsed, sending cars careening into a pit below. The death toll has continued to tick up, and now the region is reporting at least 48 dead.
Mother Nature has been hard at work in the Guangdong province of the Asian country over the past month. Heavy rains have led to one side of a four-lane highway collapsing on Tuesday, April 30. At least 23 vehicles fell down a slope. Some caught fire and others were buried under large amounts of soil, adding complications to the rescue mission. The rains also haven’t stopped, which is making the area “prone to secondary disasters,” per the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou Emergency Management Bureau, Wen Yongdeng.
As of the time of writing, there were at least 48 dead and dozens more had suffered injuries. The search is still underway for victims, according to Meizhou Mayor Wong Hui, who spoke at a news conference. The area has been split into 10 grids and authorities are using rescue dogs as well as life-detecting devices to locate those in need of help.
According to one engineer, the exact cause of the collapse isn’t clear, though it’s suspected that “poor drainage after prolonged rainfall” was to blame. More than 22 inches of rain, four times the amount in 2023, have fallen in the past several weeks. It’s considered the deadliest road incident in more than a decade. In addition, several villages in Meizhou have also flooded and a tornado killed five people in Guangzhou the prior weekend.
This isn’t the first time that particular highway was affected by weather elements. The roadway opened in 2014 but was plagued by issues, namely landslides and water, in 2015.
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