180 rescuers were dispatched to the scene on Saturday (illustration image). Noel Celis / AFP
Sixteen people were killed and dozens injured Saturday night in a pile-up on a highway in central China, authorities said Sunday. Images from the scene released by Chinese media show burning trucks and wrecked cars.
In the space of 10 minutes on Saturday evening, nearly 50 vehicles were involved in a pile-up on a highway in Hunan province, “some vehicles caught on fire“, said the local traffic police in a press release. Images reposted online by the People’s Dailya state-run newspaper, shows several burning trucks bearing the logos of delivery companies, crushed and overturned cars, and a cloud of black smoke rising from crashes.
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According to traffic police, 16 people were killed in the pileup, seven of them in a single collision, while 66 others were injured. “The injured were quickly sent to hospital for thorough treatment, with eight of them suffering from relatively serious injuries, their vital signs are currently stable“, she clarified.
According to People’s Daily, the pileup took place in the metropolis of Changsha, and more than 180 rescuers were dispatched to the scene on Saturday. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management announced on Sunday that it had called for an investigation into the causes of the accident.