Torrential rain has caused a bridge to collapse in northern China, killing 11 people and leaving more than 30 missing, state media has said.

The bridge over a river in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, buckled at about 8.40pm on Friday “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”, the Xinhua agency said, citing the provincial public relations department.

The state broadcaster CCTV said nearly 20 vehicles and more than 30 people remained missing.

The 11 confirmed victims were found inside five vehicles that had been recovered from the water, CCTV said.

Images on state TV showed a partially submerged section of the bridge with the river rushing over it.

One witness told local media he had approached the bridge but other drivers started “yelling at me to brake and stop the car”.

“A truck in front of me didn’t stop” and fell into the water, said the witness whose surname was Meng.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has called for “all-out efforts” to find those still missing, CCTV said.

Large portions of northern and central China have been battered since Tuesday by rains that have caused flooding and significant damage.

On Friday, state media reported at least five people dead and eight missing after rain sparked flooding and mudslides in Shaanxi’s Baoji city.

State television broadcast images of neighbourhoods flooded by muddy water, with excavators and residents attempting to clear the damage.

The semi-desert province of Gansu, which neighbours Shaanxi, and Henan in central China were also hit by heavy rain this week.

In Henan’s Nanyang city the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain fell at the start of the week, according to CCTV.

In south-western Sichuan province, two people were reported killed and seven missing on Friday after heavy rain triggered landslides, Xinhua said.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with the east and south experiencing heavy rain while much of the north has sweltered in successive heatwaves.

The climate crisis is making these types of extreme weather more frequent and more intense.

In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, leaving 48 dead.

Earlier this month, a tornado passed through a town in eastern China killing one, injuring 79 and causing significant damage.u