Harrisburg (US), Mar 28 (AP) A collision involving multiple vehicles closed a portion of Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania, with video posted on social media showing several trucks and a number of smaller vehicles struck and at least one ablaze.

The crash occurred in the northbound lanes of I-81 in Schuylkill County near the Minersville exit at about 11 am Monday.

Also Read | Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov May Visit India Within a Week.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reports that snowy conditions were hampering the ability of firetrucks to ascend Route 901 to reach the scene.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War Latest Updates: Kremlin Says No Major Breakthrough So Far in Conflict Talks; Vladimir Putin Does Not Appear Ready to Compromise on Ukraine, Says US Official.

Video posted on social media showed tractor-trailers and other vehicles slamming into other stopped vehicles and what appeared to be a tanker truck afire as the panicked onlooker ran from the road for safety.

The National Weather Service had warned of “numerous brief heavy snow squalls with very poor visibility."

“The squalls will quickly reduce the visibility to under one-half of a mile and coat the roads with snow," forecasters said, urging drivers to get off the road if possible or turn on hazard lights “and gradually slow down to avoid a chain reaction vehicular accident."

Mike Colbert, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in State College, said the weather service just started issuing warnings for snow squalls a few years ago, and pileups of the kind being reported were the reason they began doing so.

“They are very heavy snow showers where if you are driving into them, you can go from partly cloudy or sunny skies into an instant blizzard in a matter of seconds. That's why they are so dangerous,” he said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)