An aerial view of the Guangdong-Jiangzi Highway (Photo : Mirror)
One person died while four others were left injured after an elevated section of the Guangdong-Jiangxi Expressway collapsed on Friday.
Authorities in Guangdong Province recently launched an investigation into the deadly highway collapse, where one was killed while four were injured.
The four injured sustained minor wounds and are being treated in a hospital. The accident happened at 3:40 a.m. on Friday in Heyuan City, while the retrieval of bodies led by firefighters happened around 5:25 a.m. the same day.
The four trucks, loaded with porcelain clay, plunged to the ground. The other two were found on the collapsed ramp. The estimated total weight of the lorries was around 100 tons.
Based on reports, several trucks were driving across the 20-meter-tall ramp when the highway ramp suddenly toppled.
With regard to the cause of the collapse, authorities find it unknown at this moment, but they believe it can be because of overloading.
The expressway's Seongnam entrance, which exits to Meizhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, is now closed. Traffic has otherwise resumed as normal.
"The weight surpassed the ramp's maximum load, causing the rupture," said Ao Daochao, chief engineer with the Guangdong Highway Co. Ltd., the parent of the Guangdong Yuegan (Guangdong-Jiangxi) Highway Co. Ltd., which put up the money for and operates the highway.
Ao said that the ramp was outlined to carry a vehicle of up to 50 tonnes preceded and followed at a distance of no more than 10 meters by vehicles of up to 20 tonnes. He said that the four pickups were being driven too close to each other.
The highway was opened to the public in 2005 and connects the province with east China's Jiangxi Province.
