Kamen, Germany  - A highway collision, in which a line of vehicles exploded into flame and five people were killed, closed one carriageway of a major east-west German autobahn for about 18 hours, police said Saturday.

An eastbound Dutch articulated truck slammed into a tailback Friday night, killing the truck driver, 41, two women in the first car hit and a married couple in another vehicle, prosecutors said.

Rescue crews spent the whole night at the scene near Kamen clearing the blackened wreckage of two trucks, two cars and a caravan from Autobahn 2, which connects Berlin to the Ruhr metropolitan area. One eastbound lane reopened Saturday afternoon. (dpa)