A road collapse in southern China kills 36 people, state media report

A collapse of a highway section in China’s Guangdong province caused vehicles to plunge and kill 36 people while injuring another 30, state media reported on Thursday, as millions of people in the country traveled for the May holidays.

The collapse, caused by heavy rain, occurred around 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday on the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway, Xinhua news agency reported, adding that the collapsed section was 17.9 meters long and caused 23 vehicles to collapse. Meizhou is one of several areas in southern China’s Guangdong that has been hit hard by heavy rain and hail since late April, causing dangerous mudslides, flooding homes and destroying bridges.

President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to save lives and eliminate dangers as rainy weather continued in the region, a Xinhua report said. Task forces from central and local governments have been dispatched for the rescue efforts, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)