Fiery Pileup in France Kills 15, Injures 47

The breakdown of a chicken truck set off a fiery pileup of nearly 60 cars and trucks on a highway crowded with holiday travelers. At least 15 people died and 47 were hurt, police said Thursday.

The accident Wednesday night in Mirambeau, 320 miles southwest of Paris, was France’s worst road tragedy since a 1982 crash killed 53 people.

Police said the pileup started when a truck carrying chickens pulled over because of an overheated axle. A vegetable truck swerved around it and collided with an empty tanker truck.

The collision blocked the highway, and 57 vehicles, including six big rigs, piled into each other. Many caught fire, reducing visibility already obscured by rain, police said.

“People were in shock. They told of a wall of black smoke and flames everywhere,” said Patrick Viniacourt, director of the hospital at nearby Jonzac, where 17 of the injured were treated. “One man pulled his flaming wife out of their car. She died before his eyes.”

Traffic had been heavy because many people were taking a four-day Armistice Day holiday weekend.