Truck crushes cars in horror Taiwan highway crash

Five people are lucky to be alive after a container truck overturned on a busy highway in Taiwan, crushing two cars and causing traffic chaos.

The smash occurred on State Highway 1 in Changhua on Taiwan's west coast yesterday, CNA reports.

It is unclear exactly how the high speed crash occurred but dashcam footage appears to show a silver vehicle cut in front of the truck, causing the rig to slam into it.

The truck then pushes the car across three lanes and into the concrete barrier dividing the highway, collecting a second vehicle.

The impact combined with the sharp swerve causes the truck to tip over and crush the cars underneath it.

Had the truck not come to rest on the barrier then the cars would have been crushed even more severely.

Five passengers in the two vehicles were conscious when they were pulled from the wreckage and taken to hospital.

The smash caused three lanes of the highway to be closed with traffic backed up for more than 5km.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.