ZHENGZHOU, April 13 -- Five people were killed and 13 injured in three separate expressway accidents in central China's Henan Province, local traffic police said Wednesday.

A pileup involving four trucks and a car occurred at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at the section of Nanle County on the Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway due to heavy fog, according to the Henan expressway public security bureau.

One of the truck's was carrying firecrackers, which exploded on impact. Two other vehicles also caught fire.

Two people sustained serious injuries and another was slightly injured.

As a fire engine was rushing to the scene, it crashed into a Honda CRV and a van on the expressway, resulting in four fatalities, five escaped with only injuries.

Another pileup, this time involving five vehicles, also occurred on the Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway at 8 a.m. Wednesday on the Changyuan County section. One person died and five others were injured.