Photo: Weibo account of CCTV News

 
Seven vehicles that fell into the river have been found with 12 fatalities confirmed after the partial collapse happened to a bridge of the Danning Expressway due to heavy rainstorms and flash flooding in Zhashui county of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Another 18 vehicles are still missing with 31 passengers unaccounted for. Rescue efforts remain underway, media reported on Saturday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out rescue and relief efforts to safeguard people's lives and property after the collapse of the highway bridge, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, pointed out that the immediate priority is to fully carry out emergency rescue operations, spare no effort to search for missing persons, minimize casualties, and properly handle post-disaster tasks such as comforting the families of the victims. It is important to conduct scientific rescue operations, meticulously inspect surrounding safety hazards, and strictly prevent secondary disasters. 

Around 20:40 on Friday, heavy rainstorms and flash flooding occurred in Zhashui county, Shangluo city in Shaanxi Province, which resulted in the partial collapse of the No. 2 bridge of Yanping village in the Shanyang direction of the Danning Expressway.

As of 10:00 on Saturday, search and rescue teams had recovered 5 vehicles which had fallen into the river with 11 fatalities already confirmed. Rescue efforts remain underway, according to media reports.

At 9:06 of Friday, the Shangluo meteorological observatory upgraded to issue a red level rainstorm warning signal, saying that parts of eastern Zhashui county and southwestern Shangzhou district in Shangluo city have received over 70 millimeters of rainfall, with rain expected to continue. Over the next three hours in these areas, another 30 to 50 millimeters of rainfall is expected, with total accumulations exceeding 100 millimeters.

On Saturday morning, the Shaanxi traffic police issued reports on the situation of highways in the Shangluo area, where multiple roads had collapsed, with water damage, and mudslides, causing disruptions in both directions of traffic. Specifically, the Shuiyang Expressway in the direction of Shanyang, the No. 2 bridge in Yanping village has collapsed approximately 40 meters, leading to a complete closure of the road in both directions.

A netizen who witnessed the damage told the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald that around 21:12 on Friday, when they drove to that section of the expressway, they noticed unusual road conditions ahead and initially thought there was a traffic accident. 

"Two vehicles were parked on the emergency lane, and several pedestrians were shouting at me to stop… They said when they tried to stop some cars, those cars didn't stop and went straight down into the river. I also encountered nearby villagers who came up to help me,  even though they were not even wearing shoes," said one local, noting that he was uncertain about the number of vehicles that fell of the bridge given the darkness. 

According to China Central Television, following the collapse, the national comprehensive firefighting and rescue team deployed 736 personnel, 76 vehicles, 18 boats, and 32 drones for rescue operations, which are set to continue over coming days..

Global Times