200-Car Crash In China Due To Fog Leaves 1 Dead

One person was killed after 200 vehicles smashed into one another on a bridge in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou that was shrouded in thick fog, the CCTV state broadcaster reported Wednesday.

In aerial pictures and videos posted on social media, passenger cars, vans and trucks could be seen piled on top of each other on one section of the Zhengxin Huanghe bridge.

"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," Zhengzhou authorities said, according to CCTV.

One person died in the pile-up, authorities said. It is unclear how many were injured.

The fire department deployed 11 fire trucks and 66 fire rescue personnel to rescue the injured victims trapped inside their vehicles, Channel News Asia reported, citing the Chinese state broadcaster.

"This is too scary. Full of people here, I don't think we can get off the bridge," one person who was involved in the accident can be heard saying in a video clip.

China's meteorological service said visibility in many areas went down to less than 500 meters on Wednesday morning. But it further dipped to 200 meters at times.

Zhengzhou's traffic police announced on social media that the traffic on the bridge had been reopened as of Wednesday afternoon after the vehicles involved in the crash were cleared.

A report by CCTV noted that cars plying over the bridge were also involved in previous road crashes.

This was the latest major road accident in China since 27 people died and 20 more were injured in September after a bus transporting them to COVID-19 quarantine facilities crashed on a highway in the Guizhou province.

Chinese social media users noted that the passenger bus traveled on the highway in the early morning hours despite authorities strictly prohibiting buses from driving over the highway after midnight.

China's lack of strict safety controls is being blamed for numerous road accidents.

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) said China accounted for 20% of all total road casualties globally.

The WHO estimated that as many as 260,000 people die in China annually due to road accidents.

The WHO report noted that China had over 104 traffic-related deaths for every 100,000 vehicles, compared to 33 in the Americas and 101 in Southeast Asia, the South China Morning Post reported.

Shao Chunfu, a professor at the School of Traffic and Transportation of Beijing Jiaotong University, said China's rapid increase in drivers, vehicles and roads contributes to safety issues.