A bridge collapse triggered by torrential rains in northern China has resulted in the deaths of 12 people, with more than 30 individuals reported missing, according to state media on Saturday.
Recent heavy rains have wreaked havoc across large areas of northern and central China, causing widespread flooding and significant damage. The bridge in question, located in the northwestern Shaanxi province, gave way on Friday night due to a sudden downpour and flash floods, as reported by the state news agency Xinhua.
The 12 victims were found inside five vehicles recovered from the river beneath the bridge in the city of Shangluo, Xinhua stated. Preliminary investigations reveal that 17 cars and eight trucks fell into the river during the collapse, leaving at least 31 people unaccounted for.
Images broadcasted on state television showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river flowing over it. A witness, surnamed Meng, recounted how he approached the bridge only to be warned by other drivers to stop. “A truck in front of me didn’t stop and fell into the water,” Meng said.
In response to the disaster, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out rescue and relief efforts” to locate the missing, according to Xinhua.
Meanwhile, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, over 30 people were reported missing on Saturday following flash floods caused by a violent thunderstorm in the town of Ya’an, state broadcaster CCTV reported. On Friday, state media announced that at least five people were dead and eight were missing after rains triggered flooding and mudslides in Shaanxi’s Baoji city.
State television aired images of neighborhoods inundated with muddy water, with excavators and residents working to clear the debris. The semi-desert province of Gansu, neighboring Shaanxi, and Henan in central China also experienced heavy rains this week. In Nanyang city, Henan, rainfall equivalent to a year’s worth of precipitation fell earlier in the week, according to CCTV.
Sichuan province reported two deaths and seven people missing on Friday after heavy rain caused landslides, Xinhua noted.
China is facing a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coinciding with intense heatwaves in the north.
Climate change, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions, is linked to the growing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as the recent devastating incidents in China, where a collapsed highway in the south claimed 48 lives in May and a tornado in the east killed one person, injured 79, and caused significant destruction earlier this month.
Join our Channel...