The death toll from a highway collapse in southern China has risen to 36, state media said Thursday.

"As of 5:30 am on May 2... 36 people have died, and 30 people have been injured," state news agency Xinhua said, adding that the injuries were not life threatening.

State news agency Xinhua said that a stretch of road between Meizhou city and Dabu county in Guangdong province caved in at around 2:10 am on Wednesday (1810 GMT Tuesday).

The incident caused over 20 vehicles to become trapped and involved a total of 54 people, according to Xinhua.

State media has said the collapse was a "natural geological disaster" caused by the "impact of persistent heavy rain."

Guangdong, a densely populated industrial powerhouse, has been lashed by rainstorms in recent weeks, causing severe flooding and landslides in some areas.

The downpours have been much heavier than would normally be expected this time of year and have been linked to accelerating climate change. 

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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