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An expressway between Ho Chi Minh City and the beach town Vung Tau was shut down on Tuesday afternoon as smoke from field burning along the road caused drivers to lose sight and led to at least one serious crash.
At least 10 vehicles crashed into each other and formed a long pileup on both sides of the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh Expressway at around 2:30 p.m. due to poor vision. Four cars were badly damaged and four people were rushed to hospital with injuries.
Duong Phong, who was on his way to HCMC said he was driving at 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour when he saw high columns of smoke ahead. He slowed down and found a series of cars tailing each other and many were screaming to alert crashes.
"The smoke was billowing the road and we could not see anything in front of us," Phong said.
Managers of the expressway said some farmers might have burned their fields in Dong Nai Province, which neighbors HCMC, and strong winds sent thick smoke all over the road.
Traffic police and an ambulance car arrived at the scene to clear traffic and help crash victims.
The 55-expressway runs across Dong Nai to connect HCMC with the beach town Vung Tau. The VND20.6 trillion ($) road was launched early in 2015, curtailing travel time between the city and Vung Tau from two and a half hours to one hour and 20 minutes. It is serving around 40,000 cars a day.
