Sri Lanka, May 2 -- The death toll from a highway collapse in southern China's Guangdong province has risen to 48, state media said on Thursday (May 2), as rescue work continued.

Heavy rains caused a stretch of road running from Meizhou city towards Dabu county to cave in at around 2.10am on Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Vehicles careened into the nearly 18m-long gash in the tarmac and plummeted down the steep slope below.

Guangdong, a densely populated industrial powerhouse, has been hit by a string of disasters attributed to extreme weather events in recent weeks.

The storms have been much heavier than expected this time of year and have been linked to climate change.

The highway collapse trapped over 20 vehicle...