UPDATED: At least six dead in dust storm crashes on Illinois highway, police say
The late morning crashes involved 40 to 60 cars and multiple tractor-trailers, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj.I-55 was shut down in both directions in Montgomery County, 75 miles north of St. Louis, and likely won’t reopen until Tuesday.
“The cause of the crashes is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, leading to zero visibility,”Winds at the time were gusting between 35 mph and 45 mph , the National Weather Service said. Starrick said more than 30 people were transported to hospitals with injuries, which occurred in the southbound and northbound lanes.
“You couldn’t even see,” Anderson said. “People try to slow down and other people didn’t, and I just got plowed into. There was just so many cars and semi trucks with so much momentum behind them.”
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