Six people were killed, including four teenagers, in a multi-car crash on a motorway in southern Germany shortly after midnight on Sunday, local police said.

The crash occurred in foggy conditions near the town of Bad Groenenbach on the A7 autobahn at around 1 a.m. (0000 GMT), according to a Bavarian police spokesman.

Ten others were injured.

The spokesman described the first pile-up as a “close shave.” It involved three articulated lorries and nine cars.

Then a car carrying five people crashed into site, followed by the vehicle of a 23-year-old, who had been driving alone.

Those six people were killed in the accident.

The car carrying five people was driven by a 22-year-old. His four female passengers, aged 15-19, were also killed.

The motorway was closed in both directions to allow the fire brigade and rescue services access to the scene. The south-bound lanes remained blocked as late as Sunday afternoon.

Germany’s Autobahn 7 is the country’s longest motorway, running almost 1,000 kilometres from the northern coast to the southern border with Austria.

Germany’s ADAC motoring organisation reported Thursday that the number of traffic-related deaths on German roads in 2016 dropped by 5.2 per cent in comparison to the previous year.

Around 3,280 people lost their lives, the organisation said.

(dpa/NAN)