At least three people have been killed and 15 injured in a pile-up involving almost 100 vehicles in the U.S. state of Virginia, police say, according to BBC News.

They said there were 17 separate crashes within a distance of one mile (1.6km) on Interstate 77 near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain.

The accidents began shortly after 13:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Sunday, March 31, when there was heavy fog in the area. It was reportedly the most deadly of several similar pile-ups since 1997.

Queues of traffic in southbound lanes near the scene of the crashes stretched for eight miles, police said.

"This mountain is notorious for fog banks," said Glen Sage of the American Red Cross office in the town of Galax. "They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank."