About 30-car pileup on eastern China highway kills 18

Eighteen people have been killed in a pileup of at least 30 cars on a highway in eastern China, local authorities say.

Police said the accident, which occurred in the city of Fuyang in Anhui province on Wednesday, also wounded 21 people, 11 of whom severely.

Officers said the crash was caused by low visibility due to the fog, but China's notorious air pollution could be to blame for the deadly accident. Fuyang city’s government had issued a heavy pollution alert for the area, advising residents to reduce outdoor activities.

The accident also resulted in several vehicles catching fire in a blaze that raged for over two hours and left several automobiles completely charred. The local fire department said it deployed 14 trucks and more than 100 firefighters to the site.

Fatal road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.

Chinese authorities said last year that more than 180,000 traffic accidents occurred in the country in 2015, leaving 58,000 people dead.

In August, a bus slammed into a wall at the mouth of an expressway tunnel in northern China, killing at least 36 people and injuring 13 others.

SS