(National Fire Service)
Seventeen people were injured in a multi-vehicle pileup on a foggy expressway in central South Korea on Tuesday, police said.
The 15-car crash occurred at 5:52 a.m. on a section of the Seohaean (west coast) Expressway in Dangjin, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul, when a 25-ton truck was rear-ended by another 25-ton truck.
Nine other vehicles following behind the two trucks slammed on their brakes but collided with one another, while a separate pileup involving four cars took place farther behind, police said, noting those accidents caused severe traffic congestion for more than three hours.
The pileup resulted in 17 injuries, but no fatalities were reported.
"It seems that those vehicles embroiled in the pileup failed to stop in time due to heavy fog at that time," said a police officer, adding an investigation is under way to determine its exact cause.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the visibility in the concerned Dangjin area was only 40 to 70 meters at 6:30 a.m. (Yonhap)