Firefighters look at the charred vehicles after, according to reports, a tanker truck carrying inflammable liquid went ablaze and caused the death of five passengers in a car and the driver of the truck behind it, along the A21 motorway between Brescia and Turin, in northern Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. RAI state TV said traffic on the A21 had slowed because of a previous accident, when a truck laden with sand struck the car in front of it, which in turn slammed into the tanker truck. (Filippo Venezia/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press
ROME (AP) - Italian news reports say a fiery highway crash in northern Italy has killed six people.
RAI state TV quoted firefighters in Brescia as saying that five of the dead, including two children, were in a car, and the sixth victim was a truck driver.
RAI said A21 highway traffic had already slowed to a crawl because of an earlier accident Tuesday when a truck loaded with sand struck the car in front of it, which in turn slammed into a tanker truck whose flammable liquid cargo caught fire.
Authorities didn't immediately identify the liquid.
Firefighters were on the highway about 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) north of the crash site dealing with the earlier accident when the tanker truck caught fire. Thick, dark smoke was visible for miles.
The back of a truck is seen as fire and black smoke engulf it after, according to reports, a tanker truck carrying inflammable liquid, which was ahead, went ablaze and caused the death of five passengers in a car and the driver of the truck behind it, along the A21 motorway between Brescia and Turin, in northern Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. RAI state TV said traffic on the A21 had slowed because of a previous accident, when a truck laden with sand struck the car in front of it, which in turn slammed into the tanker truck. (Filippo Venezia/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press