A blinding dust storm is responsible for pileups on Interstate 55 in rural Illinois that led to “multiple fatalities” and more than 30 people being hospitalized on Monday, officials said.
The collisions involving as many as 80 vehicles on the interstate north of Farmersville were reported just before 11 a.m. and included separate pileups on the northbound and southbound sides, an Illinois State Police official said.
“The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility,” state police Maj. Ryan Starrick said at an afternoon news conference.
An exact number of fatalities was unavailable, but the major said another news conference was scheduled for early evening.
Involved in the collisions were two big-rigs that had been on fire, roughly 18 other commercial vehicles, and as many as 60 passenger cars, Starrick said.
The first pileup was reported on the northbound side of the interstate, which runs through farm country. The major said topsoil and dust from the farms was blown across the roadway.
“This is not uncommon,” Starrick said. “This has happened before in various parts of the sate of Illinois.”
However, he said, the number of vehicles and casualties involved was unusual.
The National Weather Service on Monday forecast “widespread blowing dust,” with gusts of 34 mph possible, for the Farmersville area. Winds were out of the northwest, federal forecasters said.
State police said visibility continued to be low in the area. The interstate was closed in both directions north of Farmersville, a small village along a defunct stretch of Route 66, as investigators tried to reconstruct some of the timeline and conduct a secondary search for victims.
Starrick said the interstate could be closed until Tuesday afternoon.
“At this time we feel we have everyone transported safely off the interstate,” the major said.
State police said in a statement motorists were urged to seek alternative routes.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Ava Kelley and Bryan Gallion contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
