BEIJING (Reuters) – President Xi Jinping has called for all necessary efforts to help after a road bridge collapsed on Friday in northwest China’s Shaanxi province that killed 11 people, state media reported on Saturday.
The events occurred at around 8:40 p. m. in the city of Shangluo on Friday when a road bridge collapsed due to flash flooding, causing some cars to fall into the river.
By 10 a. m. Saturday, five cars had fallen into the water and another 30 people were missing, state media said.
Xi said China is in a critical era in terms of flooding and local governments will have to take responsibility for strengthening monitoring and early warning.
China’s National Fire and Rescue Authority announced on Saturday that it had sent a rescue team of 859 people, vehicles, 20 boats and 41 drones to the scene.