Inner Mongolia Expressway Disaster: Icy Roads Trigger Massive Pileup, Four Dead, Twelve Injured Chaos

Hohhot, China— Four people are dead and twelve more are injured after a massive chain-reaction crash tore across an ice-slicked expressway in Inner Mongolia in the early hours of Saturday.

The pileup hit around 7:30 a.m. as temperatures dropped below freezing and a thin sheet of black ice formed across the G6 Beijing-Tibet Expressway corridor. Drivers had little warning. One truck jackknifed. Then everything behind it stopped.

Traffic police said at least 23 vehicles were involved, including long-haul freight trucks, passenger cars and two intercity buses. Impact came from both directions as vehicles slid into the initial wreckage. The cabs of three trucks were crushed flat.

Rescue teams worked for more than five hours to cut survivors from the wreckage. Firefighters used hydraulic spreaders while paramedics triaged on the asphalt. The highway was closed in both directions. Queues stretched for more than 10 kilometers.

“The road looked wet, not frozen,” one driver who escaped with minor injuries told local authorities. “I braked and the car just kept going. You could hear metal hitting metal for a full minute.”

Hospitals in Hohhot and surrounding counties confirmed they received 12 injured, three in critical condition with head and chest trauma. Officials from the regional transport department said de-icing crews had been deployed overnight but conditions deteriorated faster than forecast.

Xinhua reported the regional public security bureau has opened a formal inquiry into road management and winter maintenance protocols. Initial focus is on whether warning signs and speed restrictions were issued in time. An official statement said visibility and road surface readings are being reviewed.

By late afternoon, wreckers had cleared the lanes but the death toll held. Families of the victims were notified. Police said the expressway reopened under controlled speed limits.

The investigation remains open and a full technical report on the road surface at the time of impact is expected within days.