The death toll rose to nine, and the seriously injured increased to 16 in a dozen of pileups on an expressway linking Beijing and Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, local police sources said Tuesday afternoon.

The pileups occurred at 6:25 AM Tuesday within the section between cities of Jinzhou and Panjin in Liaoning, due to a heavy fog that suddenly blanketed the area, said the transport safety bureau of the Public Security Department of Liaoning.

The accidents involving 28 motor vehicles, have left nine people dead and 72 people hospitalized, including 16 seriously injured who have been out of critical condition, according to the bureau.

The section of the expressway resumed traffic at 11 AM Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)