At least 24 people died after a section of a mountainside highway collapsed in China's Guangdong province following heavy rains, media reports said.

Thirty others were taken to hospital after a 17.9m (58 feet) stretch of the Meilong expressway crumbled at 02:10 local time (19:10 BST) on Wednesday, BBC reported.

In all, 20 vehicles and 54 passengers were caught up in the accident, the local government told South China Morning Post, as it issued revised casualty figures on Wednesday afternoon.

In a statement, it said 30 victims had been sent to hospital, while around 500 public security, emergency response, firefighting, health and sanitation and other workers were taking part in the rescue work in the affected area measuring around 184 sq m.

The extent of their injuries have not been mentioned so far.

The reason of the collapse is still not clear and an investigation is currently underway.