万花筒2008-01-12:七十部车连环相撞

Four dead in 70-car Florida pileup

Highway accident at central Florida today where poor visibility on interstate 4 triggered a deadly chain/ reaction. It happened near Lakeland, Florida. Multiple crashes there left 4 people dead, dozens injured. Late report tonight from NBC's Mark Potter.

At first light the massive crash scene was still hidden by a thick blanket of smoke and fog. For two miles, on interstate 4, 70 trucks and cars were tangled¹ together, many on fire in 10 seperate accidents. Drivers told / of suddenly being unable to see anything on the road as cars and semis slammed into each other.

They just come on down the highway when all of a sudden to smoke. Nothing, you just run into somebody, breaks all. This has completely gone.

Rescue workers went / car to car to find the dead and injured. The first deputy on the scene told the Sheriff it was awful.

He said sheriff I did all I could do. He said but, I watched the man burn at the, burn to death today. And he said and I heard other screaming and hollering and crying.

Investigators² are now looking into whether a smoke from a prescribed burn of underbrush by state officials that roared out of control yesterday may have contributed to the blinding road conditions. The Florida highway patrol was warned yesterday: there might be visibility problems caused by smoke mixing with fog and put out warning signs, but says its officers never saw any conditions before the accidents that would have warned it closing a highway.

Mark Potter, NBC news Miami.

1 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》