Winter weather wreaked havoc across Europe this week. In the latest incident, heavy snow led to a massive autobahn pileup that involved 100 cars on Germany's A45 motorway.
According to The Huffington Post's translation of local reports, at least 20 people were injured -- six of them seriously -- in the series of collisions that shut down the highway in both directions for hundreds of miles. Rescue workers rushed to free people from the wreckage Tuesday and were forced to cut some motorists out of their vehicles.
Germany's DAPD news agency described the pileup as a scene of "ruins." Despite the widespread damage, no deaths have been reported.
The initial accident reportedly occurred near Münzenberg, north of Frankfurt, and followed several smaller collisions earlier in the day, including a school bus crash that injured 30 children, English-language German news outlet The Local reported.
Germany's Frankfurt airport was also closed for several hours Tuesday because of the snowfall, and more than 200 flights were canceled.
Travel delays and massive collisions weren't just limited to Germany, as snow blanketed other parts of central Europe, as well. In Belgium, slick roads and blustery conditions led to traffic jams that spanned 1,600 kilometers (about 994 miles) -- a record for the country.
As CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller noted Tuesday, harsh snowstorms in late winter are nothing new for central Europe. Miller referenced the German word Märzwinter, meaning "March winter," to describe the circumstances when brutal winter weather returns after a period of warmth.
Related
Before You Go
