At least 48 people were killed after a large section of highway collapsed in southeastern China, sending nearly two dozen vehicles plummeting down a steep slope and bursting into flames.
The tragedy unfolded around 2 a.m. Wednesday as a portion of the four-lane freeway gave way following a month of torrential rains in the city of Meizhou, authorities said.
“Most of the vehicles were buried in soil during the collapse, with a large volume of soil covering them,” Wen Yongdeng, Communist Party secretary for emergency management in the city, told reporters. “Because some of the vehicles involved caught fire, the difficulty of the rescue operation has increased.”
At least 30 other people were injured in the collapse, as rescue workers deployed cranes in a rush to find more survivors — or bodies — buried in the muddy terrain.
The work remains hazardous, as continuing rainfall and the threat of landslides hampers the search following more than 22 inches of rainfall in the region over the past four weeks.
The collapse also came on the first day of the five-day May Day holiday in China, with more travelers hitting the roads this week, authorities said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has now called for all of the country’s regions to step up monitoring of major roadways to prevent similar tragedies in future.
With Post wires