At least 12 people have died after a partial bridge collapsed in northern Chinacaused by torrential rains, and rescuers are searching this Saturday for more than 30 people missing in the tragedy.
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The road bridge collapsed on Friday at around 8:40 p.m. “due to a brutal downpour and flash floods.” in the city of Shangluo, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
At least 12 people died in the collapse and 31 are missing.according to the same source.
An earlier report put the death toll at 11, while state television CCTV said “more than 30 people” were missing.
Shangluo City is located in northern Shaanxi Province, about 900 kilometers southwest of Beijing.
Since Tuesday, large parts of northern and central China have been hit by heavy rainfall, causing flooding and significant property damage.
According to the first elements of the investigation, 17 vehicles and 8 trucks fell into the riverXinhua news agency reported, raising fears that the death toll will rise in the coming hours.
Witness to the accident said that “the drivers were screaming”
Footage from Shangluo broadcast by CCTV shows a section of the road collapsing into the river. The lanes in the opposite direction, however, appear to have held.
As I drove along the bridge, “I realised that something was not normal in front of me,” a witness told a local media outlet. “Drivers were shouting for me to brake and I stopped the car.”
“A truck in front of the car did not stop and fell” into the voidadded the witness, identified by his last name, Meng.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all efforts” to be focused on rescue operations, which are “the priority” at the moment, according to CCTV.
The incident is reminiscent of another incident in May in the south of the country, where a highway collapse caused the death of 48 people.
In Shaanxi province, torrential rains have left five people dead and eight missing in the city of Baoji, home to 3.2 million people, according to a report released by Xinhua on Friday.
State television broadcast images of neighbourhoods completely flooded by muddy waters, with residents on foot and workers on excavators trying to repair the damage.
The neighbouring semi-desert province of Gansu and central Henan were also hit by heavy rains this week.
In the latter region, the city of Nanyang has recorded its usual annual rainfall since the beginning of the week, according to CCTV.
China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather conditions. Local temperature records have been broken in the north, and the south has also been hit by heavy rainfall and flooding.
Climate change, exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity, is making such phenomena more frequent and intense, scientists say.
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Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/colapso-de-puente-en-china-provoco-caida-carros-y-camiones-a-rio-hay-12-muertos-cb20
