Chris Ison/AP
A general view of the scene on the M5 motorway close to Taunton in southwestern England following a 27 vehicle pile-up late Friday, in which several people were killed and dozens of others injured.
At least 51 people were injured and at least seven were killed in a horrific car accident in England on Friday night -- a pileup authorities are calling one of the worst in recent history.
Authorities told London's Telegraph that heavy fog and wet weather caused bad driving conditions on a highway, which was near the town of Somerset. In addition to 20 passenger cars, police said there were at least six tractor trailers involved in the accident and several of the vehicles were engulfed in flames.
"It's not something you expect to see on the motorway, it was more like a scene from Afghanistan," one witness told the newspaper. "I could see a number of explosions. Petrol tanks I believe were going up - black smoke going up."
CNN.com reported that police were looking to see if a nearby fireworks display had played a role in the accident. The road had been more busy than usual because of a local carnival, the Telegraph reported.
Fire crews battled flames into the early hours of Saturday to try to save passengers still terrifyingly trapped in their vehicles. They used hydraulic cutting equipment to rescue at least four people, the Guardian reported. Footage also showed Good Samaritans rushing to try to help trapped passengers.
"All we heard was thump, thump, thump. My husband dragged people from the cars, the smell was horrendous and there were a number of explosions. We walked away but others weren't so lucky," one witness told the Guardian.
The crash caused backups up to 20 miles around the site and even going into Saturday night roadways remained closed.
"We are asking motorists to be patient," the Avon and Somerset Police Department tweeted.
SOURCE : ://www.nydailynews.com/
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