Two people were killed and another six were injured Wednesday in 15 consecutive traffic accidents in Jingzhou City, central China's Hubei Province, local traffic police said.

The accidents occurred from around 1 p.m. Wednesday on the Jingzhou section of an expressway linking Shanghai and southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, according to the Hubei traffic police authorities.

Heavy smoke from local farmer's burning straw was blamed for the accidents because the visibility in the area was reduced to about 100 meters.

All the injured were rushed to hospital. Traffic on the expressway resumed at around 5:30 p.m..