A screenshot of a video taken at the scene by China Central Television on Wednesday. Photo: China Central Television

A road accident on Wednesday involving 20 vehicles in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province led to two injuries due to the impact of heavy snow, only a few days after another multi-vehicle collision in Central China's Hunan Province, killing 16 people and injuring 66 others, sounding the alarm again over the dangers of driving in inclement weather.

Currently the section of Shuiqin Expressway where the accident occurred has resumed normal traffic flow, Lanzhou local transportation police said via its official Sina Weibo account on Wednesday. 

At about 7:30 am on Wednesday, five rear-end collisions occurred in the 8-kilometer direction of Fujiayao-Gaolan on Shuiqin Expressway, covering an area of about two kilometers and involving more than 20 vehicles, resulting in a fire, two people sustaining light injures and blocked traffic, according to the Lanzhou local transportation police.

After the accident, traffic police, fire, emergency departments were dispatched to the scene immediately for emergency rescue, and investigations about the accident and rescue work are being carried out, according to the Lanzhou police.

It was the second multi-vehicle collision to take place within a week.

The transportation authority in Central China's Hunan Province held an emergency meeting on February 5 on a multi-vehicle collision on the Xuguang Expressway, in Hunan which killed 16 people and injured 66 others, stressing the need to learn lessons from the accident and strengthen traffic safety work in the province. 

After the accident in Hunan, the Ministry of Public Security made the deployment on February 5 to strengthen road traffic safety further and resolutely prevent road traffic accidents involving mass casualties.

The police reminded the drivers to slow down when driving on slippery roads in bad weather.