A dust storm that cut visibility to near zero triggered a series of chain-reaction crashes involving dozens of vehicles on an Illinois highway, killing six people and injuring at least 30 more, state police say.
Roughly 40 to 60 passenger cars and about 20 commercial vehicles, including numerous tractor-trailer rigs, were involved in the pileup around 11am on Monday (local time) on Interstate 55 in southern Illinois, a state police official said at an afternoon press conference.
More than 30 people were transported to area hospitals with injuries, and there were "multiple fatalities," the official said. Two of the trucks caught fire as a result of the crash and it was possible that one of them had exploded, he said.
Joletta Hill, chief deputy for the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, later confirmed at least six people were confirmed dead from the accidents.
Local media posted video footage of the scene showing smashed cars and trucks crumpled against one another, some of them on the shoulder of the highway. The clip showed one truck burning amid a thick haze of dust and smoke.
The state police official said the pile-up near the town of Farmersville, about 320km southwest of Chicago, was caused by "excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, resulting in zero visibility."
The 27km stretch of the highway remained closed in both directions several hours later, state police said.
"My team and I are closely following the devastating crash on I-55 as authorities learn more. Please be safe as this situation continues to unfold," U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski of Illinois said on Twitter.
