One dead in 60 car autobahn pile-up

About 60 vehicles slammed into each other today in heavy snowfall on an autobahn in northwestern Austria, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, police said.

Police in the province of Upper Austria said five of the injured people were seriously hurt.

Police said the person who died was a Spanish woman who lived in Switzerland. Further details about her identity and how she died were not immediately available.

Some victims were believed to be trapped in their vehicles and rescue efforts were hampered by the snow, police said.

Police said the accident happened on the westbound A1 autobahn between the towns of Seewalchen and St Georgen, northeast of Salzburg. That section of the autobahn has been closed in both directions.

The speed limit is 130kph (80mph).