At least 14 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in a massive traffic crash on a northern Italian highway. Thick fog is being blamed for the pile-up, involving more than 200 vehicles.
The series of collisions on the highway between Trieste and Venice involved cars and trucks going in both directions and stretched for four kilometers.
Thick fog had seriously reduced visibility during the morning rush hour. Police say two trucks heading north first crashed into each other and stopped in the middle of the highway. Other vehicles heading in the same direction then crashed into the trucks.
In the opposite lane, drivers stopped to look at the first crash, causing a second pileup.
Among the vehicles involved in the accident were a school bus, a truck carrying hydrogen and another carrying pigs, which caught fire, killing the animals.
Italian police have opened an investigation into what is being called one of the worst road incidents in Italian history.