(MENAFN- Live Mint) "At least 48 people have been killed after a mountain road collapsed in the Guangdong province of China on Wednesday. Search operations continue in Meizhou with officials indicating that three other victims remained unidentified. The developments come amid torrential rainfall that has forced about 110,000 residents of Guangdong province to relocate in recent weeks.
More than 20 cars were sent tumbling down a steep slope on Wednesday after a part of the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway collapsed. The incident took place around 2:00 am with some of the vehicles going up in flames after the fall.
“Because some of the vehicles involved caught fire, the difficulty of the rescue operation has increased. Most of the vehicles were buried in soil during the collapse process, with a large volume of soil covering them,” said Wen Yongdeng, the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou emergency management bureau READ: Joe Biden blames 'xenophobia' for China, India's economic troubles: 'They don't want...'State-run Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping gave“important instructions” on the rescue and disaster relief work following the fatal expressway collapse. He also called for efforts to repair the damaged roads and restore traffic order as soon as possible. Premier Li Qiang also shared instructions to spare no effort in rescuing the injured, carry out follow-up work, do everything possible to search and rescue trapped persons, and strictly guard against secondary risks populated Guangdong has been affected by a string of disasters attributed to extreme weather events in recent weeks. The heavy storms - linked to climate change - have displaced thousands and killed several people in the region in the past few weeks.
A tornado swept though Guangzhou on Sunday, killing five people and injuring dozens others. The southern city is the capital of Guangdong province and a manufacturing hub near Hong Kong. The tornado struck during an afternoon thunderstorm and also brought hail - damaging 141 factory buildings.
(With inputs from agencies)
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