Two people were killed and 27 others injured in a pile-up involving some 40 vehicles on the motorway near W rzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region.
A woman and a child died at the scene, while another child had to be taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, (dpa) news agency quoted a police spokesman as saying in the early hours of Monday.
Authorities said the motorway had to be fully closed in the direction of Nuremberg until early on Monday following three accidents on a wet stretch of road within a short period of time on Sunday afternoon.
According to authorities, the first chain of crashes involving 17 cars occurred when some drivers distracted by a damaged vehicle at the side of the road crashed into one another. Two people were seriously injured and nine others suffered minor injuries as a result.
Immediately afterwards, several hundred metres behind, more cars piled into stopping vehicles. As a result, three vehicles caught fire. The woman and the small child died, while three people were seriously injured - including the child with the life-threatening injuries - and 11 people were slightly injured.
Around half an hour later, there was another accident at the end of the traffic jam, also involving three vehicles. This resulted in two minor injuries.
