China bridge collapse: A view of the bridge that was damaged due to heavy storms and flooding, in Zhashui County in Shangluo City, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, onJuly 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
“Eleven people are dead and more than 30 remain missing after a bridge in northern China collapsed amid torrential rains,” state broadcaster CCTV reported on July 20.
“The bridge over a river in Shaanxi province’s Shangluo collapsed at around 8.40 p.m. on July 19 (1240 GMT) “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”,” official news agency Xinhua said, citing the provincial public relations department.
“Nearly 20 vehicles and more than 30 people” remained missing after the highway bridge collapsed into the river below,” CCTV said. “All 11 confirmed victims were found inside five vehicles that had so far been recovered from the water,” the broadcaster said.
Images on state TV showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river rushing over it. Large portions of northern and central China have been battered since Tuesday by rains that have caused flooding and significant damage.
On July 19, state media reported that at least five people were dead and eight were missing following flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rains in Baoji city, Shaanxi.
State television broadcast images of neighbourhoods completely flooded by muddy water, with excavators and residents attempting to clear the damage.
Extreme weather
The semi-arid province of Gansu, neighboring Shaanxi and Henan in central China, experienced heavy rainfall this week. The city of Nanyang in Henan received the equivalent of an entire year’s rain at the beginning of the week, as reported by CCTV.
China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered in successive heat waves.
In May, a highway collapse in southern China resulted from days of rainfall, leading to 48 fatalities. Earlier this month, a tornado swept through a town in eastern China, resulting in one death, 79 injuries, and considerable damage.
