PARIS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-seven people were injured in a massive vehicle pileup triggered by a heavy truck in the southern French city of Antibes on Tuesday.

The semi-truck carrying construction equipment tore down a slope without braking at around 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) in the Alpes-Maritimes department, reported French daily Le Figaro.

The truck first crashed into a police car, slightly injuring the three officers inside, before plowing into 22 other vehicles in a cascading chain-reaction collision, injuring a total of 37 people, who were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The truck driver was detained, and initial breathalyzer tests for alcohol returned negative, said the report.

A large-scale emergency response was deployed to the scene, involving 45 firefighters and 22 rescue vehicles. Police used drones to film the extensive crash site for investigation. ■