BEIJING — A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media on Saturday for parking his vehicle on a highway and preventing more cars from falling down a slope after a section of the highway in the country’s mountainous south collapsed, killing at least 48 people.
Wang Xiangnan was driving on the highway on Wednesday in Guangdong province, a vital economic center in southern China. Around 2 a.m., Wang saw several vehicles moving in the opposite direction on the four-lane highway and a fellow driver soon informed him about the collapse, local media reported.
Reacting quickly, Wang, a former soldier, positioned his truck to block the road, effectively preventing dozens of vehicles from advancing toward danger, Jiupai News quoted Wang as saying. Meanwhile, his wife got out of the truck to alert other drivers about the situation, he said.
“I didn’t think too much. “I just wanted to stop the vehicles,” Wang told the Chinese media outlet.
Wang’s brave actions not only garnered praise from Chinese social media users but also recognition from the China Workers’ Development Foundation.
The foundation announced on Friday that, in partnership with an automobile company, it had awarded Wang 10,000 yuan ($1,414). A charity project linked to tech giant Alibaba Group Holding also donated an equal amount to Wang, Dahe Daily newspaper reported. Wang told the newspaper that he would donate the money to the families of the collapse victims.
The accident occurred after a month of heavy rain in Guangdong. Some of the 23 vehicles that plunged into the deep ravine burst into flames, raising thick clouds of smoke.
About 30 people were hospitalized. On Saturday one of them was discharged from the hospital, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The others were improving, but one remains in serious condition.
On Saturday, the Meizhou city government in Guangdong said in a statement that authorities would carry out citywide checks on highways, railways and roads in mountainous areas.
The Chinese government had sent a vice premier to oversee recovery efforts and urged improved security measures following calls from President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party’s top leader. 2, Premier Li Qiang, to quickly handle the tragedy.
The dispatch of Zhang, who is also a member of one of the ruling Communist Party’s top bodies, illustrates concerns about a possible public reaction to the disaster, the latest in a series of deadly infrastructure failures.