Chapter 57

Hu Zeming hung up the phone, grabbed a piece of clothing without a word, and put it on. He didn't even pay attention to his wife's puzzled gaze as he hurriedly went downstairs and got into the car that had been waiting for a long time.

As soon as he got in the car, Hu Zeming hurriedly started making calls to the heads of various departments.

"Xiao Yang, where is Mayor Liu?"

"Secretary, Mayor Liu has already arrived."

"That's good."

"Also, immediately mobilize all forces for the rescue, not a single second can be wasted..."

The driver seemed to know the situation was serious and, without waiting for Hu Zeming to give instructions, sped up and rushed toward the southern expressway.

By the time Hu Zeming arrived at the scene, a large number of traffic police had already cordoned off the area of the expressway. Ambulances and fire trucks were rushing to the scene, and hundreds of firefighters and medical personnel were already engaged in the rescue efforts.

Even before Hu Zeming got close to the accident site, the sight of the towering flames made him feel a chill in his heart.

"Secretary Hu, you're here."

A man wearing wire-rimmed glasses was surrounded by a group of people. As soon as he saw Hu Zeming, he quickly led a large group over.

"Mayor Liu, how is the rescue going?"

Hu Zeming didn't ask about the cause of the accident but directly inquired about the rescue efforts.

Liu Yanrong's face was heavy. "The situation is not optimistic. We have only found one survivor so far, and the search and rescue are still ongoing."

"How serious is the accident?"

Hu Zeming glanced around. "Do we have a preliminary estimate yet?"

"Secretary Hu..."

They entered the temporary command room, and someone quickly unfolded a map, pointing to it and said, "There are two accident sites, one here and another about 200 meters away. There have been 17 rear-end collisions, five cars and one bus have overturned, and one truck has exploded. It is estimated that there will be over a hundred casualties..."

"These two sites are over 200 meters apart. Why did the accidents happen simultaneously?"

Hu Zeming immediately saw something was amiss.

"This... the cause of the accident is still under investigation."

"The accident has been reported to the State Council, and the central government has issued instructions to immediately launch the rescue and form an accident investigation team..."

"Secretary, it's a call from the Ministry of Public Security."

Various voices were heard, and Hu Zeming shook his head, took the call, and kept responding. The call was from a deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security, inquiring about the accident and its cause. Upon learning that there might be over a hundred casualties, the deputy minister immediately gave instructions to prioritize the rescue of the injured within the golden time frame and to prevent secondary injuries.

After hanging up, Hu Zeming was deeply worried. The call from the deputy minister meant that a central investigation team would be formed the next day, and according to precedent, at least a deputy minister would personally lead the team to guide the local government's rescue efforts.

This also meant that the accident would be investigated seriously and rigorously, and no one from the public security, safety supervision, and transportation departments would escape responsibility. Someone would have to take the blame.

Hu Zeming gritted his teeth and, along with Liu Yanrong and a group of people, walked toward the accident site. Only when they truly arrived at the scene did they realize that no matter how large the casualty figures were, they could not compare to the shock of seeing it firsthand.

Cars were piled up and overturned, medical personnel were rushing back and forth, and firefighters, their faces covered in soot, were using rescue tools to dismantle severely deformed vehicles, with parts and glass scattered everywhere, to save the people inside.

However, when the people were rescued, the medical personnel could only shake their heads helplessly, indicating that they were confirmed dead.

"Ah..."

Hu Zeming could only sigh.

But what he didn't expect was that the trouble was just beginning.

The next morning at ten o'clock, the deputy minister of the State Administration of Work Safety and the deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security led a working group to arrive. In the afternoon, they summoned Hu Zeming for a closed-door meeting.

"Suspected terrorist attack?"

Hu Zeming frowned, looking at the preliminary investigation report in his hand.

Not many people were qualified to attend the closed-door meeting. Apart from the members of the central investigation team, only a few standing committee members from Donghai were eligible to attend.

"Based on the on-site investigation, no traces of explosives were found at the accident site or its surroundings, which is the biggest point of suspicion..."

"Excuse me, if no traces of explosives were found, why is it suspected to be a terrorist attack?"

"Comrade Hu Zeming, let the experts explain this to you."

The deputy minister of public security extinguished his cigarette and looked at the man sitting beside him.

The man nodded. "Although it is only a preliminary investigation, no common explosives or their residues were found at the scene. This is indeed very strange..."

The man operated the laptop, and the projector began to display images on the screen in the meeting room.

"This is the truck that exploded at the accident site. Please look, the degree of deformation and the traces are not caused by a fuel tank explosion or the effects of explosives. As for how it happened, we are still unsure, but we can rule out natural causes..."

The people in the meeting room nodded in agreement.

"The rest of the accident site is also strange. In previous accidents, chain rear-end collisions are usually caused by one car, but at these two sites, which are over 200 meters apart, the vehicles seem to have lost control almost simultaneously."

"How is that possible?"

Hu Zeming was incredulous.

"Yes, it is indeed very unbelievable."

The man agreed with Hu Zeming.

"Is there any explanation?"

"None, for now."

The man regretfully said, "From a national perspective, such a strange major traffic accident has almost never occurred. We need to conduct further investigations to uncover the truth."

"Is it too hasty to conclude that it's a terrorist attack when there's no explanation?"

"Regarding this, we have already discussed it. After ruling out natural causes, the most likely possibility is human factors... Everyone knows that terrorist activities in the country have been expanding, showing a trend of large-scale and inland development. Especially the recent major terrorist attack in the northwest, which resulted in 76 deaths and over a hundred injuries. Therefore, the central government is very concerned and must take strict precautions... To prevent adverse effects, we must control the public opinion in Donghai and prevent rumors from spreading online before the investigation is clear."

"Minister, please rest assured, I will handle this aspect of the work."

Hu Zeming was very troubled. If this was related to a terrorist attack, it would be a major issue.

However, since the higher-ups required that such a conclusion not be released before the investigation was clear, there were appropriate excuses to use.

That afternoon, the first plenary meeting of the special major road traffic accident investigation team was held in Donghai, announcing that the preliminary investigation showed that the accident was caused by a vehicle violation leading to the explosion of a tanker truck.

The public was discussing it, but with many major traffic accidents in recent years, this incident was just a topic of conversation and not taken too seriously.

What ordinary people cared about most was still their daily necessities.

However, after the ordinary firefighters and medical personnel withdrew from the accident site, the expressway was not reopened.

Instead, at the entrances and exits of the expressway, a large number of riot vehicles stopped, and heavily armed special police officers, expressionless, were checking all vehicles with their guns.

Surprisingly, a few drug dealers were also found.

"Whoosh..."

White clouds floated in the sky, and the sun was high. Suddenly, the sound of rapidly rotating helicopter blades filled the air. From the distance, three Z-8A military transport helicopters, marked with the emblem of the Army Aviation Corps, flew low, leaving a trail of thunderous noise.