13 sustain minor injuries in freeway pileup

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Thirteen people were injured in a chain-reaction crash on National Freeway No. 1 in Changhua County on Saturday, but none suffered serious harm, police said.

The accident occurred around 11 a.m. on the southbound lanes at the 216-kilometer mark near Beidou Township, where a tractor-trailer reportedly failed to notice traffic ahead and slammed into a car.

The impact triggered a pileup involving four other sedans, police said, adding that a total of five cars and the tractor-trailer were damaged.

All 13 drivers and passengers sustained only minor cuts and bruises and were transported to hospitals for treatment, police said.

Traffic along the affected stretch of freeway was fully reopened by noon. Police said the truck driver, surnamed Chuang (莊), tested negative for alcohol, with the exact cause of the accident still under investigation.