Eighteen people had died as of 6 pm on Wednesday after an expressway pileup of dozens of vehicles in Anhui province, local authorities said.

The crash also injured 21 people, 11 of them seriously. All have been hospitalized, according to a statement posted by the Fuyang public security bureau. More than 30 vehicles, including trucks and buses, crashed around 7:45 am on Wednesday on the expressway section in Fuyang’s Yingshang county, it said. Some caught fire.

Local authorities, including police officers, firefighters, safety supervisors and medical personnel, quickly arrived at the scene, along with government officials of the city and county, the bureau said, adding that the fires had been extinguished by 10:38 am.

A preliminary investigation found the accident was likely caused by morning fog.

Images broadcast on CCTV on Wednesday afternoon showed goods that had been carried by the trucks scattered on the expressway, and some private cars that were smashed.

A netizen named Onlybelief on Sina Weibo, who claimed to be a witness, said heavy fog descended on the expressway suddenly before the accident – so thick that “it was hard to clearly see the road”.

Seven people stood trial for suspected telecommunications fraud that led to the death of a student, authorities in south China’s Guangdong Province said Wednesday.

Five of the defendants sent 780,000 fraudulent text messages, swindling more than 1.1 million yuan (166,200 U.S. dollars) from the public, including 9,800 yuan of tuition fees and living expenses from the victim, surnamed Cai, according to the Intermediate People’s Court of Jieyang City.

Cai later committed suicide by drowning herself in the sea.

The other two defendants are suspected of hiding the illegal activities and the benefits from the fraud, according to the court.

The court will announce a verdict at a later date.

China has published its first land cover atlas, Land Cover Atlas of the People’s Republic of China (1:1,000,000), according to the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Wednesday.

The atlas, in both Chinese and English, provides a comprehensive look at land-surface conditions across China, and records its land cover changes in 1990, 2000, and 2010, a period witnessing rapid economic growth, said the RADI.

Land cover refers to the observable natural and artificial objects on the surface of the Earth.

Land cover changes over time can be regarded as indicators of the natural environment, ecosystem, economic development, and people’s livelihoods, said the RADI.

From data production in 2011 to publication in 2017, over 240 scientists and technicians from the CAS, government offices, and other research organizations worked on the atlas compilation.

The person in charge of a Shanghai day care center where staff were caught on camera allegedly abusing toddlers has been detained, police said Wednesday.

The suspect, surnamed Zheng, was detained on Monday, after three staff from the third-party center management were detained last week, according to Shanghai police.

Leading travel agency Ctrip established the center, run by a third-party organization, in 2016, to help employees solve babysitting problems for children under three years old, the minimum age for public kindergartens.

Video footage showing staff abusing children at the center went viral last week, leading to intense public outcry.

One clip showed a female staff member throwing a little girl’s schoolbag on the floor and pushing her violently, causing her to fall and hit her head on the corner of a table.

In another video, a child cried after being forced to eat something that his parents later claimed to be wasabi.

On Wednesday, authorities with the Shanghai Municipal Working Committee on Children and Women announced the result of a preliminary investigation into the case, saying it is a “severe case of child abuse” that had a “terrible impact” on society.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Federation of Shanghai apologized to the public for a “lack of supervision and management” of Modern Family, a magazine that is affiliated to the federation.

In early 2016, the magazine’s reader service department signed a contract with Ctrip to run the day care center. It later subcontracted the center to the third-party organization. But it controlled financial affairs of the center.

Ctrip is seeking new management for the center and will allow employees to see surveillance video of classrooms on their mobile phones in the future.

What would be your last words when you think you are dying? A young passenger onboard a plane that had developed problems prayed for world peace first, and then conveyed his love to his parents and girlfriend, the Modern Express reported Wednesday.

The China Southern Airlines aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday night after a fire alarm went off.

The passenger, who only gave his surname Wang, wrote some “last words” when he heard about the emergency.

The flight CZ6406 was flying to Guilin in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region from Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province.

At 21:35, the crew heard a fire alarm light beeping in the cargo hold. They immediately informed passengers and told them that the plane would be making an emergency landing at the nearest airport in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan province.

Initially, all the passengers stayed calm. Then, a baby started crying and that caused fluster among passengers.

“I was panicking at that moment. I can only remember that the crew members spared no effort to allay passengers’ fear and repeatedly informed us in detail the evacuation plan,” said Wang, who was born in 1997.

Though Wang was confident about a safe landing, he still prepared for the worst. In the last 30 minutes before landing, he left some last words on his tablet for his parents and girlfriend

Wang wrote “World Peace. Dad and Mom I love you. I love you, ***. Don’t quarrel.” on the tablet. He also wrote his name and the city, Nanjing, from where the plane had departed.

“At that time, my mind was blank and I only remember writing those things,” said Wang. Though short and brief, the “last words” show Wang’s deep love for parents and girlfriend.

The plane safely landed at Changsha Huanghua Airport at 21: 56 and all the passengers were evacuated. Recalling the experience, Wang said it was frightening but unforgettable. “I realize the preciousness of life after this life-threatening emergency. I appreciate that I am still alive,” said Wang.