Dense fog covering California’s Central Valley early on January 31, 2026, led to a 59-vehicle crash on Highway 99 in Tulare County, closing the main north–south route for about six hours. Emergency crews treated 10 injured drivers and passengers while removing wreckage from the fog-covered roadway.
A series of multi-vehicle collisions involving about 50 vehicles shut down sections of Highway 401 in eastern Ontario, Canada, on the morning of January 27, 2026, according to the Ontario Provincial Police. The crashes occurred near Trenton in Quinte West, forcing a full closure of the highway in both directions as emergency crews responded.
A sightseeing helicopter carrying two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot was found wrecked near the crater of Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on January 20, 2026, after disappearing during a short flight earlier the same day. Rescue operations have been severely hampered by dense volcanic gas emissions and poor visibility around the active crater.
Multiple injuries were reported after lake effect snow and whiteout conditions triggered a 100-vehicle pileup on the I-196 southeast of Grand Rapids on Monday, January 19, 2026. The crashes prompted the closure of all lanes of the highway throughout the day as crews cleared the road.
Heavy snow and low visibility conditions triggered a multi-vehicle pile-up involving 30 trucks along the eastbound I-80 near Elkhart County, Indiana on January 14, 2026. The crash involved at least 10 semi-trucks, leaving many injured and hospitalized.
A hazardous chemical incident occurred in the Montague Gardens industrial area of Cape Town, South Africa, on January 12, 2026, following a fire at a commercial facility that led to the suspected release of a corrosive chemical. Emergency services declared a hazardous materials response, closed surrounding roads, and urged the public to avoid the area while containment and assessment operations continued.
Five people, including a two-year-old child, were killed after a Mexican Navy plane crashed near Galveston, Texas, amid foggy conditions on Monday, December 22, 2025, while transporting medical patients. At least one person remains missing, with search operations and the investigation continuing.
At least two people were reported dead in traffic crashes as a powerful winter storm dropped up to 20 cm (8 inches) of snow across parts of Long Island, New York, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, on December 14, 2025, creating dangerous travel conditions. Suffolk County Police reported approximately 200 vehicle collisions across the island as the storm moved through the region.
A truck slide off due to heavy snow from the Nor’easter prompted a dramatic rope rescue along the US 35 in Mason County, West Virginia on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
A post-Thanksgiving winter storm dropped record snow in St. Louis and parts of the Midwest on Saturday, November 29, 2025, causing a Delta flight to slide off the runway in Des Moines and triggering hundreds of crashes and multi-vehicle pileups on major interstate highways, including I-70 and I-80.
