On Saturday night, multiple vehicles collided on an expressway in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the Chinese mainland, killing nine and injuring seven, local authorities said on Sunday.
The chain of collisions occurred around 10 p.m. on different sections of the roadway near the city of Usu in Tacheng Prefecture. Five large trucks and seven smaller cars were involved in the pileup.
Local officials pointed to sudden heavy fog combined with sub-zero temperatures, which turned road surfaces wet and icy in minutes, as the main factors behind the crash. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment.
Winter driving challenges like fog and freezing roads are a growing concern across the region. Traffic analysts emphasize the value of real-time weather alerts and reduced speeds when conditions deteriorate rapidly.
Authorities have launched a formal investigation into the sequence of events and are reviewing traffic camera footage and telemetry data to pinpoint the causes and prevent future tragedies.
Reference(s):
9 dead, 7 injured after expressway collisions in China's Xinjiang
cgtn.com
