Death toll from China’s Guangdong highway collapse rises to 48 as President Xi Jinping orders maximum push to save lives

Cause of landslide not known but engineer says ‘poor drainage after prolonged rainfall’ may have caused section of highway to collapse early on Wednesday

After opening in late 2014, local media reported in 2015 that several tunnels on the highway were affected by landslides and water penetrating during construction

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The death toll after a section of highway collapsed in southern China early on Wednesday has risen to 48. It is the country’s deadliest road incident in over a decade. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 5:17pm, 2 May 2024Updated: 5:56pm, 2 May 2024

The death toll after a highway gave way in China’s rain-hit southern province of Guangdong has rise to 48, making it China’s deadliest road collapse incident in over a decade.

A section of the Meizhou-Dabu highway collapsed around 2am on Wednesday in Dabu county in Guangdong’s northern city of Meizhou. Around 18 metres (59 feet) of the mountainous highway crumbled into the forested slope beneath, causing vehicles to fall.

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Dozens killed in highway collapse in China’s rain-hit Guangdong province

Officials in the city of Meizhou told a press conference on Thursday afternoon that three people killed in the disaster had not yet been identified, pending DNA testing.

They said that in addition to the death toll, a further 30 people were injured and 23 vehicles were trapped, and they were continuing the search for bodies and injured people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered local authorities to make an all-out effort to save lives and ensure “overall social stability”.

He ordered government officials to do everything possible to rescue and treat casualties at the scene, and to repair the damaged roads and restore traffic order as soon as possible, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.