A HORROR highway pile-up in Brazil following a forest fire has reportedly left eight people dead and 21 injured.

Authorities said a minor crash on highway BR-277 in the southern state of Parana saw several cars stop on the shoulder lane where everything was under control – but then chaos struck.

A nearby forest fire ruined visibility and left a driver of a truck needing to swerve late to avoid the cars, and running over four people in the process near the highway's 47-mile marker in the city of Sao Jose dos Pinhais, firefighters say.

But the truck's collision sparked a chain reaction of crashes which involved 22 vehicles, including one police car.

A video uploaded to social media by people who drove by the deadly scene showed an upturned car and what appears to be several dead bodies scattered amongst the road.

A distressed woman can be heard expressing her shock as she watches the fallout from the tragic events.

Another witness recorded the many stationary emergency service vehicles that had raced to the crash sites

Some of the cars piled-up – including one which had nosedived into a ditch – can be seen after.

Authorities confirmed the accident was caused by poor visibility on the highway because of the level of smoke in the area after a roadside fire broke out.

Fire Brigade Colonel Samuel Prestes said: "The fires on the edge of the highways, they can generate this type of situation on any highway in the state of Paraná and Brazil.

"We are in a dry period. We have been warning this vehemently every day for the population to help us taking care of this situation. Our forest fire increased 78 per cent compared to last year."

Seven of the victims died at the scene and an eighth person was declared dead at Cajuru Hospital. 

The Institute of Forensic Medicine said the dead included five women and three men. 

Edson Antonio and his family were in middle of the accident and he labelled their survival a "miracle".

He was with his family returning home before hitting a vehicle in front and quickly feeling another car slam into his. 

"I went down to see if they were all right in the other car, that's when the vehicles started to come and crash," Antonio told Bem Parana.

"I took the family and we ran out. It was a miracle that we were alive."

Witness Leonardo Barros Castro told Brazilian news outlet Bem Paraná that he was sitting in his vehicle with his hazard lights on when he saw a number of cars collide.

He said: "I saw a motorcycle flying. They crashed because nobody was seeing anything because of the smoke."

"We had to run out of the car in fear of death. It was a big scare."

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