One dead in China highway pile-up involving hundreds of cars

BEIJING — One person died during a highway pile-up involving hundreds of vehicles in central China, state broadcaster CCTV reported Wednesday, with images of the accident showing scenes of chaos.

Aerial pictures showed hundreds of passenger cars, vans and trucks—many of which had smashed into one another—piled up on one section of the highway in dense fog. 

Other viral videos posted online showed the mangled remains of several vehicles that had crashed into others.

The accident occurred due to low visibility from fog near the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province, and involved at least 200 vehicles, state media reported.

"On Wednesday morning, a sudden build-up of fog occurred at the Yellow River Bridge in Zhengzhou, which caused a traffic accident involving the collision of multiple vehicles," CCTV cited Zhengzhou authorities as saying, adding that one person died as a result.

Emergency rescue efforts were carried out soon after the accident occurred and the crash site is currently being cleared up for the normal resumption of traffic, the report said.

Road accidents are common in China due to a lack of strict safety controls. In September, 27 passengers died after a bus transporting them to quarantine facilities in southwestern Guizhou province flipped over on a motorway. — Agence France-Presse