Tragedy struck on Wednesday as a section of the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Meizhou, South China’s Guangdong Province, collapsed, claiming the lives of twenty-four individuals. The China Ministry of Emergency Management swiftly dispatched a team to oversee rescue efforts in the aftermath of the incident.
At approximately 2 am on Wednesday, a 184.3 square meter section of the expressway gave way, causing twenty vehicles to plummet from the roadway. As a result, twenty-four fatalities have been confirmed, while an additional thirty individuals are currently undergoing treatment at local hospitals.
Authorities are actively investigating the cause of the collapse, and as a precautionary measure, the affected section of the expressway remains closed. Responding to the emergency, the local emergency management department mobilized a team of 500 rescue personnel, comprising firefighters and mining rescue experts.
Emergency medical teams from nearby towns and villages have converged on the scene to provide assistance, as recounted by a medic from the People’s Hospital of Dabu County to Yicai, a leading business and financial media outlet.
Eyewitnesses recounted harrowing scenes of chaos, describing hearing the sounds of vehicles plunging and a subsequent deafening explosion. “We stopped and got out of the car to check and had no idea the road had collapsed,” one witness recounted to Guizhou Evening News.
Following the incident, social media platforms have been inundated with calls for inquiries into the construction quality of the roadway and appeals for fair compensation for affected families. “I don’t know whether or not the incident was a result of excessive traffic,” remarked one netizen on Sina Weibo.
The tragic incident occurred on the first day of the May Day holidays, amplifying concerns over road safety during this peak period of travel encompassing rail, air, and road transport.