BEIJING, China: The death toll from a highway collapse in southern China has risen to 36, state media said early Thursday.
“As of 5:30 am on May 2… 36 people have died, and 30 people have been injured,” state news agency Xinhua said.
Earlier reports suggested that 19 people have been killed when part of a highway collapsed in China’s Guangdong province on Wednesday.
According to CCTV, a stretch of road between Meizhou city and Dabu county in Guangdong region caved in at around 2:10 am. CCTV reported that the incident caused eighteen vehicles to become trapped and involved around of 49 people.
The CCTV reported that around 19 people have been killed and 30 injured in the mishap. It said that that injured have been immediately shifted to the hospitals. Social media footage shared by local news showed smoke and flames emanating from a deep, dark pit into which cars seemed to have plunged.
Local officials have also dispatched about 500 people to the site to help with the rescue operation, state-run media reported.
