Lorry left dangling over collapsed bridge in China with driver trapped inside, China News
A lorry, with its driver trapped inside, was left hanging off a collapsed highway bridge in China's Guizhou province.
Days of relentless rainfall had triggered a landslide beneath the Xiamen-Chengdu Expressway, causing it to give way at around 7.40am on Tuesday (June 24), reported Guizhou Daily.
Videos of the incident posted to Chinese social media show the lorry with its cabin suspended over the drop.
In a video interview posted to X by Shanghai Eye, You Guochun — the lorry driver — stated that once the front of the truck reached the point of the bridge that eventually collapsed, he felt the ground "sink down a little" and stepped on the brakes at once.
"But there was a bit of inertia and the truck kept going a bit. The bridge in front of me all collapsed... I was scared and simply froze," he said.
In a video circulating on social media, a witness at the scene can be heard saying to You, "You're lucky, this is dangerous", and asking him to wait for help to arrive.
You responded that he had tried to contact the fire department but could not get through. The onlooker then explained that there was no mobile connectivity in the area.
According to You, the fire department eventually arrived and threw a ladder over for him to climb up to the top of the lorry, guiding him through the process.
Local transportation authorities found a deformation in the bridge structure during a patrol inspection at 5.51am on Tuesday and immediately implemented traffic control for the uphill lanes, which was enforced by 7.11am, reported the Global Times.
The authorities also stated that there were three vehicles at the bottom of the bridge and confirmed there were no people inside them.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse and follow-up work is currently underway, reported China Daily. Extreme weather in multiple areas
State meteorologists have forecast more rain in the coming days, warning that flood-hit provinces like Guizhou remain at risk from overlapping storms.
Despite summer floods being common in China, climate change is amplifying the risk — with heavier rainfall events becoming more frequent, they added.
The possibility of "black swan" disasters, rare but catastrophic events like dam failures or sudden infrastructure collapses, become more likely under extreme weather conditions, said the Chinese authorities.
While Southern China was hit by heavy rain and floods on Tuesday, Northern provinces such as Henan, Shandong and Hebei recorded temperatures nearing 40°C.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
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