Several people injured in 100-car pile-up on icy road in China

Alerts issued over severe weather conditions in parts of China

A number of people were injured in a pile-up of more than 100 cars on an icy road in China on Friday. It’s the latest incident due to extreme weather conditions in the country.

Several cars piled up on top of each other while others were sandwiched in between, in the accident in Suzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on Friday.

Three people suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital, while six others suffered minor scratches, Suzhou Industrial Park traffic police said.

Cars pile up on an overpass during rainy and snowy weather in Suzhou (Reuters)

The dramatic scenes captured from state television CCTV and shared on social media showed numerous cars clustered together chaotically on the highway, with one vehicle jack-knifed at a severe angle in the air.

Glass and debris were strewn across the road as traffic on one side came to a standstill.

Road traffic has been restored and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the police said.

The incident comes as swathes of China have been hit by cold waves, blizzards and icy rain over the past few weeks.

Officers during the clear-up operation (Reuters)

The climate conditions have impacted transport services in parts of the country at a time when millions of people are rushing home for the lunar new year holiday celebrations.

Weather authorities have issued an orange alert, the highest in the country’s three-tier system, warning of a potential 6C to 12C plunge in average temperatures by Friday, particularly in the south where temperatures currently hover around freezing.

A vehicle removing snow from a highway following snowfall in Baokang (Reuters)

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) called on local governments to take precautions against the cold weather, advised the public to keep warm, and called for measures to protect crops and aquatic products.

In Beijing, with temperatures hovering around freezing on Wednesday, residents woke up to discover the capital draped in white after snow fell overnight.

On Thursday, at least two people died after an empty barge collided with a bridge in southern China, which led to its partial collapse and vehicles plunging into the water.

Three others went missing when the cargo vessel crashed near China’s Pearl River Delta at Guangzhou.