Two dead in truck smash on key expressway in southern China
Two people were killed and one person injured in a dramatic collision between two cargo trucks on an expressway in southwest China on Monday, the Xiaoxiang Morning News reported.
The collision occurred at around 12.40pm on a stretch of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, when one truck from Liaoning smashed through the central barrier and into an oncoming truck from Zhuzhou.
One of the vehicles then overturned and both trucks burst into flames, the report said.
The crash left a load of watermelons from one of the vehicles scattered across the expressway and caused major disruption to traffic.
Dramatic video footage of the scene shows thick clouds of black smoke billowing from one of the trucks.
Police said the fire had been brought under control, but it would take longer to clean up the road, according to the report.
Temporary traffic controls were imposed at nearby toll stations to stem the flow of vehicles.
Completed in 2005, the 2,272km-long expressway is one of the country’s major highways, connecting the capital with key cities in the south.
