State broadcaster CCTV said a stretch of road between Meizhou city and Dabu county in Guangdong province caved in at around 2:10 am.
"The incident caused 18 vehicles to become trapped, and 31 people were rescued from the scene and sent for hospital treatment," CCTV said.
Neither the broadcaster nor local authorities had reported any deaths or specified the nature of the injuries by late morning.
Social media footage shared by local news outlets showed flames and smoke emanating from a deep, dark pit into which cars seemed to have plummeted.
Other clips showed around half a dozen people standing on a roadside gazing at the flashing lights of emergency vehicles in the distance.
"About seven or eight parts of a bridge have collapsed... you can't go any further," a man is heard saying in one video.
Rescue work involving public security, emergency response, firefighting and sanitation officials was ongoing, CCTV reported.
Local authorities said in a notice that part of the S12 highway was closed in both directions and ordered drivers to take detours.
The cause of the collapse was not initially specified.
Guangdong has been hit by a string of extreme weather events in recent weeks, from fatal floods to a deadly tornado.
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