(Beijing) The partial collapse of a bridge after torrential rains in northern China has left at least 12 dead and rescue teams are working on Saturday to try to find around thirty people.
Since Tuesday, large parts of the north and centre of the country have been hit by torrential rains, which have caused flooding and significant material damage.
The highway bridge, which spans a river, collapsed around 8:40 p.m. Friday night (8:40 a.m. Eastern Time) “due to heavy downpour and flash floods” in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua news agency said Saturday.
The toll rose in the afternoon to 12 dead and 31 missing, according to Xinhua.
PHOTO ZHANG LING, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Emergency services were mobilised on Saturday to try to find around thirty people.
The previous figure was 11 dead, while state television CCTV reported “more than 30 missing”.
Shangluo is located about 900 kilometers southwest of Beijing as the crow flies.
National television broadcast images of the partially collapsed bridge.
A three-lane section is now in the waters of a river, while the structure appears to have held up in the other direction of traffic. A strong current is visible.
According to initial investigations, 17 cars and eight trucks fell into the river, Xinhua reported, raising fears of a higher toll in the coming hours.
Screaming motorists
As I was driving, “I noticed something was not normal in front of me” on the bridge, a witness told local media. “Motorists were yelling for me to brake and stop the car.”
“A truck in front did not stop and fell” into the void, added this witness, Mr. Meng.
Already in May, the collapse of a highway after heavy rains in southern China left 48 dead.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all efforts” to be focused on relief operations, which are “the priority” at the moment, according to comments reported by CCTV.
China is suffering from extreme weather conditions this summer, with record temperatures locally, particularly in the north of the country, while the south is suffering from rain and flooding.
PHOTO ZOU JINGYI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In Shaanxi, where the bridge collapsed on Friday, heavy rains in recent days have also left five dead and eight missing in Baoji.
Climate change, which scientists say is linked to greenhouse gas emissions, is making such extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.
On the other side of the country, a violent storm caused a sudden rise in water levels in Ya’an, a town in the mountainous province of Sichuan (southwest), on Saturday. More than 30 people are also missing there, according to CCTV, citing local authorities who mentioned cut-off communications and roads.
In Shaanxi, where the bridge collapsed on Friday, heavy rains in recent days have also left five dead and eight missing in Baoji, home to around 3.2 million people, according to a report released by Xinhua on Friday.
State television showed images of neighborhoods completely flooded by muddy waters, with excavators and residents working to clear the damage.
The neighbouring semi-desert province of Gansu in the northwest and Henan in the centre have also been hit by heavy rain in recent days. In Nanyang, a year’s worth of rain fell earlier this week, according to CCTV.