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Accident site on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania
Photo: David McKeown/AP
During a snow flurry in the US state of Pennsylvania, there was a devastating pile-up on a freeway.
A police spokesman said on Twitter that several people were injured when 50 to 60 vehicles crashed into each other on Interstate 81 in the Schuylkill County.
Several vehicles caught fire.
Local media such as broadcaster WKOK reported fatalities.
At least three people died and more than a dozen others were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries, authorities said.
A video showed how a truck crashed into a stationary truck at high speed in poor visibility.
Other images showed numerous cars and trucks that had become wedged into each other or had veered off the freeway.
Several articulated lorries were among the vehicles involved in the accident.
Three trucks with unknown cargo were on fire when rescue workers arrived.
A few smaller vehicles also burned.
Police officer David Beohm said, according to the US news agency Associated Press (AP): "There is nothing we can do while the fire is still burning." no fire hydrant anywhere out here.”
The national weather service had warned of "numerous short, heavy snow gusts with very poor visibility".
jso/dpa/AP