China’s largest toll station sees 120K vehicles trapped in almost 24-hour traffic jam

A massive traffic jam turned China’s biggest toll station into a sea of red with thousands of vehicles stuck bumper-to-bumper for nearly 24 hours.

According to Kuya Kim Atienza’s report on “24 Oras” Tuesday, the traffic jam occurred at the Wuzhuang Toll Station, which has 36 lanes and saw around 120,000 vehicles stranded during the National Day holiday rush.

Many of those caught in the jam were motorists heading home after the celebrations.

Authorities have since urged residents to avoid the area and instead take alternate routes.

To ease congestion, subway and bus operations in the vicinity were extended.

In 2010, China also experienced extreme traffic congestion, with thousands of drivers trapped in a week-long traffic jam on a Beijing highway.

Meanwhile, according to Guinness World Records, the longest traffic jam in history occurred in France on February 16, 1980, stretching 176 kilometers from Lyon to Paris, which is roughly the same distance from Manila to Nueva Ecija or Atimonan, Quezon.

In terms of vehicle count, the record goes to the East-West German border, where 18 million cars were reported stuck on April 12, 1990.

—Carby Rose Basina/CDC, GMA Integrated News