A nearly 60-foot segment of a highway in rural southeastern China collapsed before dawn Wednesday after days of heavy rain, killing 24 people and injuring 30 others.
Photos released after the incident appeared to show that a landslide had begun under two lanes of a highway that ran along the side of a hill. A wide scar of brown mud ran down the side of the hill through bright green foliage, leaving a large gap in the highway.
The vehicles lay in a pile at the base of the hill below the hole, blackened and still smoking from a fire that had burned vigorously overnight, drawing large numbers of fire trucks to the area.
State media said many of the survivors were seriously injured, with both drivers and passengers suffering serious bone fractures and injuries to internal organs.
A witness told state media he heard a loud bang and briefly struggled to maintain control of his car. Then he realized that the road had collapsed right behind him and the cars following him had disappeared into the void.
Highway traffic is especially heavy across China with the start of a five-day national holiday on Wednesday. The stretch of highway that collapsed was on the eastern outskirts of Meizhou, a city in Guangdong province. Many victims were heading to neighboring Fujian province when the holiday began.
More than 500 rescuers from the police, as well as emergency departments and other departments, were deployed. Local traffic police closed the highway to traffic in both directions.
Much of far northeastern Guangdong, where the accident occurred, is a rugged area with mountainous terrain. Another section of the same highway was briefly closed in April last year after a landslide covered the road in mud. At that time, no deaths or injuries were reported.
A continued buildup of warm, humid air, blowing southwestward from the South China Sea, has left southern China with a prolonged period of severe weather over the past two months. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued orange alerts, the highest level for severe weather, seven times in April.
On Saturday, a rare tornado and hailstorm tore through the neighboring city of Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub in southern China, killing five and injuring 33. And on Tuesday, Shenzhen airport issued an orange warning for delays. of large-scale flights for the first time this year.