60 car pileup on autobahn in Austria

updated 10:37 a.m. ET March 25, 2008

VIENNA, Austria - About 60 vehicles slammed into each other Tuesday in heavy snowfall on an autobahn in northwestern Austria, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, police said.

Police in the province of Upper Austria said five of the injured people were seriously hurt. A Spanish woman who lived in Switzerland was killed, they said. Further details about her were not immediately available.

It was earlier reported that up to 100 vehicles were involved in the pileup.

Some people were believed to be trapped in their vehicles and rescue efforts were hampered by the snow, police said.

Police said the accident happened on the westbound A1 autobahn between the towns of Seewalchen and St. Georgen, northeast of Salzburg. That section of the autobahn has been closed in both directions. The speed limit is 80 miles per hour.

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