A bridge collapse caused by torrential rains in northern China killed 12 people and left more than 30 missing, state media said yesterday.
Large parts of northern and central China have over the past few days been battered by rains that have caused flooding and significant damage.
The bridge in Shangluo city in northwestern Shaanxi Province buckled “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods” on Friday night, Xinhua news agency said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Xinhua / Liu Xiao
All 12 victims were found inside five vehicles that were recovered from the river below the bridge, Xinhua said.
At least 31 people remained missing and initial investigations indicated that 17 cars and eight trucks had fallen into the river, it said.
Images on state television showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river rushing over it.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Xinhua / Zou Jingyi
One witness told local media that he had approached the bridge, but that other drivers started “yelling at me to brake and stop the car.”
“A truck in front of me did not stop” and fell into the water, the witness, surnamed Meng, said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has urged “all-out rescue and relief efforts” to find those still missing, Xinhua said.
In southwestern Sichuan Province, more than 30 people were yesterday reported missing after a violent thunderstorm caused flash flooding in the town of Ya’an, state broadcaster China Central Television said.
On Friday, state media reported at least five people dead and eight missing after the rains sparked flooding and mudslides in Shaanxi’s Baoji city.
State television broadcast images of neighborhoods completely flooded by muddy water, with excavators and residents attempting to clear the damage.
Gansu Province, which neighbors Shaanxi, and Henan in central China were also hit by heavy rains this week.
In Henan’s Nanyang city, the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain fell at the start of the week, China Central Television said.
In Sichuan Province, two people were reported killed and seven others missing on Friday after heavy rain triggered landslides, Xinhua said.
China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered in successive heat waves.
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