…As Two families killed in Sicily house in Italy storms***

A highway pile-up involving at least 31 cars killed 15 people in northwest China’s Gansu province, officials said, leaving dramatic scenes of twisted and burnt-out wreckage.

The pile-up occurred on Saturday after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway, state-run China Daily reported on Sunday.

Officials said another 44 people were injured in the pile-up at the toll station which is close to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, the report said.

Last week, 13 people were killed after a fist fight between a woman passenger and a driver caused a bus to plunge from a bridge into the mighty Yangtze River in southwest China.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.

Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 per cent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.

In the meantime, two families have been wiped out in Italy after a river burst its banks submerging their house in Sicily.

Nine people died in the incident in Casteldaccia – from children aged one, three and 15 to their grandparents. Only three people who were outside the house at the time survived.

Three other people died when their cars were swept away on the southern island.

Days of heavy rain and winds have killed at least 17 other people in Italy, mainly in the north and west.

Some of the worst damage was to roads around Belluno in the northern Veneto region, after days of storms had dislodged mud, rocks and water.

Six regions remain under alert – from Veneto to Sicily and Sardinia in the south.

The tragedy in Casteldaccia occurred overnight on Saturday.

Twelve members of two families had gathered to spend the night when water from river Milicia swamped the house.

Three of those on the premises had lucky escapes. A father and daughter had gone out on an errand at the time. The third – another father of two – survived by climbing onto a tree.

In addition to the three children, the dead included the mother of two of them, her brother, sister and their parents – and the mother of one of the surviving fathers.

One of the neighbours described the scene minutes before the incident.

“I heard the dogs barking. It was around 22:30 (21:30 GMT). I told my husband to go out to see what was happening. He opened the door and water filled the house,” said Maria Concetta Alfano.

Town mayor Giovanni Di Giacinto spoke of a “frightening tragedy” – given the Milicia was only a small river that had never had much water.

“It has never presented a threat to Casteldaccia, and it wasn’t a very rainy day, anyway,” he added.

Zee News with additional report from BBC