"A highway collapse in China kills 36 people and sends more than 20 cars down a steep slope" 2 May 2024

A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rains in a mountainous area in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and leaving at least 36 [updated: 48] people dead, authorities said Thursday.

The Meizhou city government said that 23 vehicles have been found after a 17.9-meter (58.7-foot) long section of the highway gave way about 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Thirty other people had injuries, none of them life-threatening...The search effort was complicated by steady rain, gravel and soil coming down at the site, posing some risk to the workers...

Over 56 centimeters (22 inches) of rain has fallen in the past four weeks in the county where the roadway collapsed, more than four times as much as last year... Heavy rain and flooding pose a special risk to mountain roadways and highway bridges because of erosion, debris flows and landslides...

In the rush to build, flaws in design and construction methods have frequently come to light, while regular inspections and maintenance are sometimes given short shrift...China’s overseas projects such as roads and dams under the Belt and Road Initiative have also been criticized for design problems and poor quality...