Rome [Italy], February 6: At least three people are confirmed dead and dozens are in hospital as foggy weather and low visibility in northern Italy resulted in a string of highway accidents on Monday, local media reported.
The accidents involved over 150 vehicles in total and more than 70 km of highway was temporarily closed.
Among the dead was a truck driver whose vehicle crashed into cars and caused a pile-up in the Emilia-Romagna region. Two other fatalities were reported in Lombardy, east of Milan, near the city of Brescia.
A spokesman for highway patrol in Emilia-Romagna told Xinhua that visibility was extremely low amid dense fog early Monday morning. "You couldn't see clearly 30 meters in front of you."
One of the accidents, a massive pile-up on highway A22 between the Emilia-Romagna cities of Reggio Emilia and Modena, involved more than 100 vehicles.
Reports said police and firefighters had to pull several motorists from destroyed vehicles. About two dozen people were hospitalized, of whom two were under intensive care.
The weather forecast said the foggy weather will continue in the area in the coming days.
The dense fog is part of a trend of severe weather conditions in Italy. According to the observatory run by the environmental group Legambiente, the country had 378 severe weather events last year, including heatwaves, drought, hailstorms, floods and gales.
Source: Xinhua
