16 killed, 66 injured in expressway crashes

Firefighters attend to burning trucks and vehicles on an expressway in Changsha, Hunan province, on Saturday. Five major collisions in a 10-minute period left 16 people dead and injured dozens of others, traffic police said. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Sixteen people were killed and 66 injured in a series of accidents on an expressway in Hunan province on Saturday in poor driving conditions, traffic police said.

Five rear-end collisions happened within a 10-minute period at around 5 pm in Wangcheng district in the provincial capital, Changsha, with some vehicles bursting into flames.

Local traffic police did not give details of the cause or sequence of accidents. However, the deadliest one involved seven vehicles and claimed seven lives.

Three other accidents saw 11, 10 and nine vehicles involved, with three people killed in each incident, traffic police said in a media release on Sunday. Twelve vehicles were involved in another accident, but there were no fatalities.

All the injured were taken to hospitals. Eight of them were seriously injured but they were all in stable condition, the release said.

Videos posted online about the accidents, which were filmed before it became dark, showed vehicles and large trucks on fire and billowing smoke.

Hunan Expressway Group Co said in a release that the fire was extinguished at 11:31 pm. The Ministry of Emergency Management said 182 firefighters were dispatched for the rescue operation.

Many small cars were severely damaged by the collision, and some piled one on top of the other, other videos showed.

A witness surnamed Wang told Beijing News there was mild rain and poor visibility when he passed one accident site.

Wang said he heard explosions when he was stuck in a traffic jam near the site.

A team from the Ministry of Emergency Management has arrived in Changsha to guide local government work in dealing with the aftermath of the accidents, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Led by Li Wanchun, the ministry's chief engineer, the team also consists of medical experts, it said.

Wang Xiangxi, minister of emergency management, demanded all-out efforts to treat the injured and reduce casualties. Wang convened a videoconference on Saturday to arrange rescue operations.

He also asked for a thorough investigation to identify the cause of the accidents and identify potential hazards to prevent similar accidents.

Relevant departments were also asked to better carry out emergency management and prevention of traffic accidents in bad weather, investigate and control hidden dangers on roads and to people and vehicles, and strictly control six-seater vehicles and small buses.

Serious violations including speeding, overtaking, overloading, fatigued and drunken driving need to be strictly targeted to prevent road traffic accidents and ensure the safety of people's lives and property, the ministry said.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn