One dead as 20-car pile-up causes A40 'carnage' in Oxfordshire
Two other people suffer serious injuries after multiple vehicles were involved in a crash that stretched for more than 1km.
Wednesday 28 December 2016 23:36, UK
A woman driver, aged in her fifties, has died after a 20-car pile-up on the A40 in Oxfordshire.
Darren Weston, from South Central Ambulance Service, told Sky News that four people had been taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, "two with serious injuries, and two with minor injuries".
He added that "a further four patients were cleared by specialist paramedics on the scene and discharge care given".
The ambulance service said it had been called at 8.22am, while the incident stretched more than 1km between Witney and Carterton.
Mr Weston said that "freezing temperatures", along with "icy road conditions" and "poor visibility" had "hampered our rescue efforts".
He added: "It was very icy underfoot, so even walking from one crash vehicle to the other presented its challenge."
A woman who saw what happened said: "I saw cars going zooming past me and trying to swerve out the way of the stationary cars but crashing into them.
"I saw one car try (to) swerve in between a Mini and another car, ending up crashing into the Mini and (flying) up in the air.
"I saw two cars swerve as they braked so hard and go flying into the barrier in the middle of the road ... it was carnage."
Ami Gaston, who lives in Carterton, saw the initial crash.
The pregnant mother-of-two said: "A man on his own had skidded and crashed into middle barrier.
"My partner was driving - we had to swerve out of the right lane to avoid hitting him.
"His door was open and air bags were released."
Fog had made conditions "really dangerous", she added, making it difficult to spot another vehicle until you were "on top of it".
South Central Ambulance Service spokesman David Gallagher said: "There was a collision towards the front of the queue and the more serious one about half-way down."
An air ambulance attended the scene, along with three ambulances and three rapid response vehicles, Mr Gallagher added.
Six vehicles were seriously damaged, with minor damage to another 10 to 15.
The westbound and eastbound carriageways were closed after the collisions but both were reopened later in the day.