Slippery conditions and fog are thought to have contributed to a huge highway pileup that killed 17 people in northeastern China.

The crash involved 56 vehicles on the Beijing-Kunming highway in China's Shanxi province around 9:00 am Monday, according to state news agency Xinhua, reports CNN.

“The fog was heavy, so I drove slowly when I exit the tunnel”, one driver involved in the incident told state-run CCTV. 

“I saw two vehicles horizontally blocking the road, so I stepped on the brake.”

It had been snowing and raining before the accident, which also injured 37 people, Xinhua said.

Firefighters told CCTV that when they arrived they fought a blaze at the front of the pileup.

A day after the collision the highway was still closed to traffic, according to the Shanxi Traffic Control Center. An investigation is underway.

BDST: 1436 HRS, NOV 22, 2016
AP/SR