Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Aerial images showed the aftermath of the crash

A motorway pile-up involving 56 vehicles has killed 17 people in China, according to Chinese state media.

The crash happened on Monday morning on an icy road in North China's province of Shanxi.

An additional 37 people were injured when the vehicles collided during snowy and rainy weather on the Beijing-Kunming expressway.

Images from the scene showed lorries that had been completely crushed by the impact.

One truck was thrown through the air, landing on the vehicles in front of it, while others dangled off the side of the road, above a sharp drop to the ground below.

Image copyright AP Image caption Rescuers tend to the aftermath of a motorway pile-up on the Beijing-Kunming expressway in northern China

Cranes were brought to the scene as rescuers tried to work through the wreckage.

State media has since reported that all the injured are in a stable condition.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 250,000 people die in traffic accidents every year across China, though official government statistics report a far lower number. </s> 17 people dead, 37 others were injured after major crash involving 56 vehicles on Beijing-Kunming expressway in Shanxi Province, Mon pic.twitter.com/w3OcmKWxIC </s> A 37-vehicle pile-up on a motorway in northern China killed four people and injured more than 40 on Monday, disrupting traffic in both directions, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

Most of the vehicles involved in the accident in Shanxi province were large trucks, the report said, adding that the cause of the accident was being investigated.

About 200,000 people die on Chinese roads each year, according to the World Health Organisation.

In a bid to improve road safety, the government has recently cracked down on the overloading of trucks. </s> The crash involved 56 vehicles on the Beijing-Kunming highway in China's Shanxi province around 9 a.m. Monday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

"The fog was heavy, so I drove slowly when I exit the tunnel," one driver involved in the incident told state-run CCTV. "I saw two vehicles horizontally blocking the road, so I stepped on the brake."

It had been snowing and raining before the accident, which also injured 37 people, Xinhua said.

Firefighters told CCTV that when they arrived they fought a blaze at the front of the pileup.

"While some of us manned the hoses, a chief officer led the rescue efforts of trapped personnel," firefighter Wang Ruobing said. The road was blocked as rescuers worked to free those trapped. A day after the collision the highway was still closed to traffic, according to the Shanxi Traffic Control Center. An investigation is underway. </s> A huge pile-up on a Chinese motorway killed at least 17 people when a total of 56 vehicles crashed into each other in winter weather, state media said.



The accident happened in snow and rainy weather in the northern province of Shanxi, on an expressway linking Beijing with Kunming, Xinhua reported.

Pictures of the scene showed lorries scattered haphazardly across the road, some of them overturned, and burnt-out wrecks of cars after the crash on Monday.

Another 37 injured people were stable after treatment, Xinhua said.

Traffic accidents are common in China, with the World Health Organisation estimating that more than 260,000 people were killed on the country’s roads in 2013.

The WHO figures are strikingly higher than official pronouncements, in a country where government data are often questioned. The National Bureau of Statistics reporting 58,539 traffic fatalities that year – less than a quarter of the WHO’s approximation. </s> The crash involved 56 cars on the Beijing-Kunming highway in China's Shanxi province around 9 a.m. Monday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

It had been snowing and raining before the accident, which also injured 37 people, Xinhua said.

A day after the collision the highway was still closed to traffic, according to the Shanxi Traffic Control Center.

An official investigation is underway. </s> Authorities in China say 15 people have been killed and 44 injured in a highway pile-up.

The accident happened Saturday night after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station in the northwestern province of Gansu.

31 vehicles were involved in the horror crash, and 10 of the 44 injured were in a serious condition as a result, China Daily reported.

The driver of the truck, who sustained minor injuries, told police the vehicle had a brake failure as he was travelling downhill.

He is being investigated and are under police watch as officers try to confirm the claim.

Police confirmed the man lost control of the truck in the 17km downhill stretch, and hit the long line of cars about 7.21pm, China.org reported.

In the meantime, Gansu provincial authorities have ordered dangerous sections of expressways to be inspected.

Images show twisted metal and debris littering the road, while the toll station, which leads to Lanzhou, has been closed.

The truck is reported to be the property of a logistics company in the Liaoning province.

Last week, 15 people were killed after a bus to plunged off a high bridge into China's Yangtze River in the western city of Chongqing.

In that previous crash, an eight-second surveillance video released by police showed the driver and a passenger arguing and grappling with each other in the moments before the bus suddenly veered across oncoming traffic and off the bridge. </s> BEIJING — Authorities in China say at least 15 people have been killed and 44 injured in a highway pile-up.

The accident Saturday night happened after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station in the northwestern province of Gansu.

Last week, 15 people were killed after a bus to plunged off a high bridge into China’s Yangtze River in the western city of Chongqing.

In that previous crash, an eight-second surveillance video released by police showed the driver and a passenger arguing and grappling with each other in the moments before the bus suddenly veered across oncoming traffic and off the bridge. </s> Officials said another 44 people were injured in the pile-up at the toll station which is close to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu.

The pile-up occurred on Saturday after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: A highway pile-up involving at least 31 cars killed 15 people in northwest China's Gansu province, officials said, leaving dramatic scenes of twisted and burnt-out wreckage.

The pile-up occurred on Saturday after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway, state-run China Daily reported on Sunday.

Officials said another 44 people were injured in the pile-up at the toll station which is close to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu.

Investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, the report said.

Last week, 13 people were killed after a fist fight between a woman passenger and a driver caused a bus to plunge from a bridge into the mighty Yangtze River in southwest China.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced. Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 per cent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.
A 56-vehicle pile-up on the G5 Beijing–Kunming Expressway in China's northern Shanxi province, leaves at least 17 people dead and 37 others injured.