A Chinese police traffic officer reportedly collapsed and died after working continuously for 24 hours.

Jiang Ruihua is thought to have suffered a brain haemorrhage while on duty in the southwestern city of Chongqing on Wednesday.

The senior traffic officer, who had been working non-stop for more than a day at the time of his death, was preparing to start morning rush hour duty when he collapsed in his office at around 6.40am.

After discovering he had not been present during his shift, an assistant police officer went to investigate more than two hours later and discovered his body.

Paramedics were unable to resuscitate the 55-year-old and he died around 30 minutes later, police sources said.

Colleagues of Jiang, a senior officer with more than 30 years’ experience in the job, paid tribute to him, describing him as a “model of excellence” at work.

Yang Yi, police captain for Chongqing’s northern Yubei district, said the officer had been the first person into work every morning and the last to leave every night.

“It was hard to accept yesterday’s sudden news, how can a person just go away? It hurts,” he told the Chongqing Daily.

Pengbei He, a young police officer working in the city, was reduced to tears as he described the influence Jiang had on his career.

“Every time I encounter an urgent and dangerous task, he has always taken the initiative as the leader,” he added.

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In a final social media post before his death, Jiang had reportedly lamented that more than 400 police officials had died on duty across China during 2018.

“In 2018, 301 public security police officers and 141 police assistants died in public. 301+141=442, this is the toughest math problem in 2018,” he wrote.