100 vehicles in three pile-ups in Belgium

More than 100 cars and lorries have been involved in three pile-ups on a fog-shrouded Belgian autoroute leaving at least one person dead and 54 injured.

Rescuers were trying to free injured passengers from the twisted metal of their vehicles hours after the crash, and the fog has grounded emergency helicopter.

With temperatures hovering close to freezing, thermal blankets were handed out to people who were still trapped in their cars.

@vrtderedactie #A19 pic.twitter.com/sSfKnFRzhP

— thomas sercu (@SercuThomas) December 3, 2013

Provincial governor Carl Decaluwe said one person had died, and that among the injured, five were in life-threatening condition, 11 suffered serious injures while 38 walked away with cuts and bruises.

The A9 road linking the regional industrial hub of Kortrijk to nearby Ieper was strewn with debris in three locations close to one another.

In 1996 a similar pile-up nearby killed 10 people.

Ook hier een enorme ravage #focuswtv pic.twitter.com/21PPlDuEua

— Sander VNieuwenhuyse (@VNieuwenhuyse) December 3, 2013

Overal brokken #focuswtv pic.twitter.com/EOKQie6aZq

— Sander VNieuwenhuyse (@VNieuwenhuyse) December 3, 2013

Ongeval in file #focuswtv pic.twitter.com/wmS7ubQnW1

— Sander VNieuwenhuyse (@VNieuwenhuyse) December 3, 2013

#focuswtv pic.twitter.com/df2beQGFWC

— Sander VNieuwenhuyse (@VNieuwenhuyse) December 3, 2013