Austria: 100 cars pile-up on snow-hit A1 motorway

At least one person died in a pile-up involving about 100 vehicles on snow-hit Austrian motorway A1.

Emergency officials said the crash scene on the west-bound A1 west of Vienna stretched for more than 2 km (1.2 miles).

Six regional fire departments have been at the scene with ambulances and an emergency services helicopter, broadcaster ORF said.

A spell of freezing weather is causing disruption across Europe.

Austrian officials said the accident happened near St Poelten, about 60 km from the capital, and involved about 40 lorries and 60 cars.

Franz Resperger of the Lower Austrian fire department said the icy carriageway was a likely factor in the crash.

In southern Austria, at least 29 people were injured – six seriously – in two accidents inside road tunnels in the state of Styria, ORF reported. The A2 motorway, which runs through the tunnels, was blocked in both directions.

Elsewhere, record-breaking snowfall in the Ukrainian capital Kiev has caused traffic chaos and seen many residents taking to skis instead, AFP news agency reported

Heavy snow blanketing three regions of Romania has closed schools and disrupted road traffic.

The freezing weather has also caused chaos on Serbia’s northern border with Hungary where lorries queued for hours amid heavy snowfall.

Black ice coating roads in neighboring Croatia has caused a spate of accidents, national TV reports said.