A view of vehicles in a dust storm, which reduced visibility to near zero and caused a series of chain reaction accidents involving dozens of vehicles, on a road in Springfield, Illinois, US, on 1 of May 2023, in this image obtained on social networks. . (Reuters)
A dust storm that reduced visibility to near zero on Monday led to a series of chain reaction crashes involving dozens of vehicles on an Illinois highway, killing six people and injuring at least two dozen, they said the authorities
About 40 to 60 passenger cars and 30 commercial vehicles, including numerous tractor-trailer trucks, were involved in the pileup around 11 a.m. CT (1200 ET) on Interstate 55 in southern Illinois, the state police said in a press release.
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Two of the large trucks caught fire as a result.
The crashes occurred on both sides of I-55 along a 2-mile stretch of the freeway near the town of Farmersville, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Chicago, the say the police
More than 30 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, and the patients ranged in age from 2 to 80, police said.
Joletta Hill, chief deputy of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, confirmed by phone that at least six people were confirmed dead as a result of the crashes. Details on the fatalities were not immediately available.
Local media released video footage of the scene showing cars and trucks smashed into each other, some of them on the side of the road. The clip showed a burning truck amid a thick haze of dust and smoke.
State police said the congestion was caused by “excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, resulting in zero visibility.”
A 17-mile stretch of the highway was closed in both directions for several hours, state police said.
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