Eight Chinese killed as road collapses near subway construction project

Eight people were killed and three are still missing after a road collapsed near a subway line construction site in southern China on Wednesday evening.

A further nine people were injured in the incident in downtown Foshan, Guangdong province, which happened about 8.40pm, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.

The eight casualties died at the scene, local authorities said. The wounded were taken to hospital and are said to be in a stable condition.

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The collapse of a near 30-metre section of the eight-lane road was caused by an inrush of water from leaking pipes that had damaged segments of a tunnel being built beneath it, the municipal government said.

Workers had been trying to stem the flow of water, but were unable to prevent the cave-in, it said.

The incident left a hole the size of two basketball courts and more than six metres deep, the television report said.

A rescue mission and investigation into the exact cause of the accident are under way, it said.

Foshan is in the industrial heartland of Guangdong, close to the financial hub of Hong Kong.

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The site of the collapse was in a central area of the city. The subway line under construction runs for 23km (14 miles) through the city north of the provincial capital Guangzhou.

The rapid expansion of subway networks in mainland Chinese cities has frequently led to cave-ins and other deadly accidents, and while Beijing has made considerable progress in improving industrial safety, scores of people are still killed every year in factories, coal mines and on transport network construction projects.

On Monday, eight people were killed and 10 were injured in a gas leak at a steel mill in Guangdong.

Additional reporting from Associated Press