Chinese highway collapses, killing dozens

At least 48 people were killed and 30 others were injured when part of a four-lane highway collapsed on Wednesday in the southeastern city of Meizhou. Search and rescue activities continued on Thursday, and no foreigners have been identified among the victims, Mayor Wang Hui said.

How much of the road collapsed? A section of the Meilong Expressway roughly the length of a bowling lane caved in. Nearly two dozen cars slid down a bank, where some caught fire. Authorities are using construction cranes to remove the mangled vehicles, which were covered by soil that fell from the collapse. The collapse came at the start of a five-day holiday for May Day, when many Chinese people travel.

What caused the collapse? By Thursday morning, authorities had not identified an official cause. The Guangdong province saw over 22 inches of rainfall over the last four weeks, possibly contributing to the collapse. The saturated soil could be prone to secondary disasters during the rescue process, said Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou Emergency Management Bureau Wen Yongdeng.

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