GUIYANG -?The death toll from pile-ups on Saturday morning in Southwest China has risen to nine from the previously reported six, local traffic police said.

The accident occurred in Anshun, Guizhou province, on the expressway linking East China's Shanghai and Kunming in the Southwest.

A total of 36 vehicles were involved in a series of pileups on a one-kilometer section of the expressway around 9 am as a result of heavy fog, police said.

Seven cars caught fire in the accidents, which also left 19 people injured, according to police.

Traffic has resumed.