Heavy Rains Triggers Highway Bridge To Collapse In China, Two Cars Fall Into The River

Flash floods triggered by heavy rains caused a highway bridge in northern China to collapse, and two cars fell into the river.

Around 8:50 a.m. (0050 GMT) on Thursday, the bridge along the Harbin-Mudanjiang Highway in Heilongjiang province gave way.

In a video released by the Telegraph, a dashcam from another vehicle records the moment a white car falls under a collapsed bridge. The witnesses said the driver was rescued.

The footage also showed two cars floating into the river.

According to China Daily, the authorities conducted a rescue operation. As of this writing, the casualties of the incident have yet to be reported.

China recorded heaviest rainfall

The heavy rain brought by Typhoon Doksuri's remnants began Saturday night and was one of the strongest storms to hit northern China in years.

Beijing recorded 744.8 millimeters of rain, the largest quantity of precipitation recorded during the downpour, according to China's state-run news agency, Xinhua.

Authorities have reported 11 deaths in Beijing and 9 deaths in nearby Hebei Province.

One of the fatalities is a 47-year-old rescuer working for a nongovernmental organization focused on relief efforts. He fell into the water in Fozizhuang Township.

Another rescuer died when the rubber boat capsized in a swiftly running river.

Local residents described the extreme rainfall as unlike anything they had ever seen..

"This is not the first time I have seen such a heavy rain, but there has not been such a severe flood," said a man surnamed Qu who has lived in the Mentougou area, as quoted by NBC News.

China speeds up post-disaster response

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered "all-out" search and rescue efforts to minimize casualties.

The Chinese central government and local governments devote significant resources to disaster relief.

The CGTN reported that the government has provided 100 million yuan (approximately $13.9 million) to support emergency recovery and reconstruction, as well as 30 million yuan in emergency road repair subsidies to Beijing and Hebei Province in the aftermath of typhoon-caused rainstorms.

The Emergency Management Department and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs are also in charge of controlling flood storage areas and agricultural areas in order to prevent floods and epidemics.

According to data released on Tuesday, the disasters affected nearly 44,000 residents in Beijing, and 127,000 people were evacuated.

As of Wednesday, approximately 1.2 million people had been evacuated in Hebei.

In the port city of Tianjin, local authorities have evacuated approximately 66,000 people and

The districts of Mentougou and Fangshan in southern and western Beijing were the hardest damaged in the national capital. Flooding has closed highways, washed away vehicles, and destroyed a bridge at the Lugou Bridge.

The authorities created 28 emergency rescue teams, totaling 8,755 individuals, to assist with rescue and relief activities.

The armed police force has been deployed to also assist in rescue and relief operations.

Police helicopters are mobilized to deliver emergency relief supplies, such as food, medicine, and water to the affected residents of Beijing.

Related Video: