[kellyhound]

At least 3 people were killed and 43 others injured Monday in two expressway pileups in southwestern South Korea following heavy snow, authorities said.

At least six of the 43 hurt were said to be in critical conditions.

The first accident occurred at 12:23 p.m. when a tanker truck carrying nitric acid reportedly ran into a small pile of cars involved in an earlier accident inside a tunnel on a highway connecting Suncheon and Wanju in North Jeolla Province.

About a dozen other vehicles ran into the truck, which had spilled its load and caught fire, according to police and rescue officials.

The third and latest victim was found in a car crushed under the tank truck. Those injured have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The exact cause of the accident has yet to be identified, but the officials note the truck and the other cars may have skidded on snow or ice patches on the road.

"We are still unable to determine the exact cause of the accident, but the road near the accident site was far more slippery than usual due to heavy snow that began early in the morning," a police official said.

The area near the site of the accident received about 5.9 cm of snow as of 1 p.m., as the entire nation was under snow warning or alert.

The second accident took place almost simultaneously with the first one, inside another tunnel located just a few hundred meters from the site of the first accident, according to the police.

The police had to completely shut down the tunnels, partly due to a large number of vehicles piled up inside but also because of toxic gas coming from the fire.

"Rescue efforts are quite tough as black gas has covered the accident site," a police officer said.

Officials said the exact cause of the accidents will be investigated once the tunnels are cleared, adding there were still at least seven vehicles left inside one of the tunnels as of 8 p.m.

[kbt3168]

Great pile-up in action video!

[LrlynJy]

is that a curved tunnel? how come those drivers kept hitting one after another? visibility seems okay and road do not look too slippery.

[minka1]

Originally Posted by LrlynJy ↗

is that a curved tunnel? how come those drivers kept hitting one after another? visibility seems okay and road do not look too slippery.

When it snows, sleets, rains, conditions on all roadways are significantly more dangerous.
Especially when there are drivers who have thoughts like yours.

[William May]

Not only will there be nothing left of the corpses, there probably won't be much left of the cars themselves. Nitric acid is very powerful and dangerous. I use small amounts in my machine shop, and it is very nasty stuff.

[LrlynJy]

Originally Posted by minka1 ↗

When it snows, sleets, rains, conditions on all roadways are significantly more dangerous.
Especially when there are drivers who have thoughts like yours.

We dont have snow or sleet here so i would not know. thats why i am asking. and i am only asking those intelligent and considerate people in the site. you are not in both category. and FYI, i have never had any accident, not even a scratched paint or fender (while in motion) since i started driving when i was 18 yrs old. Cars and motorcycle. i drive daily on weekdays and do long drives on weekends. considering the jungle we call roads here. so my thoughts as driver are sound and reliable.

[EWSER-X]

I didn't know that was so much snow in Korea! Anyway, those truck drivers (all of them) were going way too fast. Must have stopped at the first crash, and waited for authorities to clear the path for them.

[reaperman69]

Originally Posted by LrlynJy ↗

We dont have snow or sleet here so i would not know. thats why i am asking. and i am only asking those intelligent and considerate people in the site. you are not in both category. and FYI, i have never had any accident, not even a scratched paint or fender (while in motion) since i started driving when i was 18 yrs old. Cars and motorcycle. i drive daily on weekdays and do long drives on weekends. considering the jungle we call roads here. so my thoughts as driver are sound and reliable.

Knock on wood when you say that cause you could end up being a story on here.

[cicueto]

That's either 2 or 3 on my list of "ways I might check out"

You could be the safest driver but not even that will safe u from a guy driving drunk or a driver passing out from a heart attack. Life sucks

[Yanni]

the music