48 dead after highway road collapses in south China's Guangdong, rescue operations on

The death toll from a highway collapse in southern China's Guangdong province has risen to 48, local officials said Thursday, as adverse conditions complicated rescue efforts.

Over 20 vehicles careened into the nearly 18-metre-long (60-foot) gash in the tarmac and plummeted down the steep slope below.

Guangdong, a densely populated industrial powerhouse, has been hit by a string of disasters attributed to extreme weather events in recent weeks.

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The storms have been much heavier than expected this time of year and have been linked to climate change.

China is the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change but has pledged to reduce emissions to net zero by 2060.

Fire engines, their paint a stark red, surrounded the scene. People in high-vis vests huddled near a cordon just metres from the gaping maw where the road had collapsed. Earlier footage,apparently shot before dawn, showed flames licking skyward from the depths of the pit.

"You can't go any further," a man is heard saying in one video, adding parts of the road had given way.

Authorities have dispatched around 500 people to the site to help with the rescue operation, reported CCTV.

People from various departments including public security, emergency response, firefighting and mining rescue were deployed to the site.

Local authorities said in a notice that part of the S12 highway was closed in both directions and ordered drivers to take detours.

Heavy rains and extreme weather events pose a serious threat to China's vast highway network. This infrastructure, vital to the country's densely populated industrial provinces, traverses challenging environments and endures harsh climates.

Recent incidents, like the fatal tornado in Guangzhou, highlight the dangers. Negligent safety controls further contribute to the problem of road accidents, a common occurrence in China.

In March, 14 people were killed and 37 others injured after a bus crashed inside an expressway tunnel in northern Shanxi province. Sixteen people died in a vehicle pile-up in central Hunan province in February last year, a month after 19 perished in an accident in eastern Jiangxi province.

(With inputs from agencies)