Driver rescued from hanging lorry after bridge collapse in China
By any standards, it was a close call. When a road bridge collapsed in southern China, a lorry driver was left dangling in mid-air, over the vertiginous drop to the valley below.
The driver, stranded in his cab, its wheels over the precipice, was filmed by a witness to the accident in Guizhou province on Tuesday. He appeared to have been saved only by the weight of the trailer attached to his vehicle.
'You're lucky to be alive — that's dangerous!' the witness responds to the driver's pleas for help in the video, before adding: 'You'll have to wait for the fire service. There's no signal.'
In footage published by Chinese media outlets, the same witness is later seen warning other vehicles not to continue down the road. The unnamed driver was eventually rescued, reports said.
According to provincial transport authorities, the collapse of the Houzi River Grand Bridge, part of an expressway connecting the regions of Guangxi and Guizhou, was caused by a landslide after continuous rainfall.
Authorities stated that changes in the bridge's structure had been detected earlier that morning during routine inspections.
At 5.51am local time, patrol teams observed signs of stress and imposed traffic restrictions on the northbound section. By 7.11 am, both directions had been closed.
Half an hour later, the bridge collapsed. It is not clear how the lorry ended up hanging from one side, but at least three unoccupied construction vehicles from nearby villages were found in the valley, the Global Times website reported.
Emergency, transport and public security departments were dispatched to the scene to oversee rescue operations and establish detour routes. An investigation into the cause and further response measures are ongoing.
Authorities said multiple rivers had burst their banks after days of rain in China's flood-hit province of Guizhou, where the annual east Asian summer monsoon reached its peak.
More rain is expected over the next few days, state meteorologists forecast, warning that provinces hit by overlapping storms, including Guizhou, should be especially on their guard.
The Global Times said water levels in three rivers in Guizhou's Rongjiang county were rising rapidly and were expected to cause the worst flooding for at least 30 years.
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