6 dead, dozens hospitalized after blinding dust storm in Illinois caused multiple highway pileups
More than 30 other people were taken to hospitals with injuries following collisions involving as many as 90 vehicles near Farmersville, state police said.May 1, 2023, 4:22 PM CDT / Updated May 1, 2023, 4:52 PM CDT
By Dennis Romero
Six people were confirmed dead in a series of highway collisions Monday in rural Illinois that were blamed on a blinding dust storm, authorities said.
More than 30 people, ages 2 to 80, were hospitalized with injuries from minor to life-threatening, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said at an early evening news conference.
The collisions, which involved as many as 90 vehicles on Interstate 55 north of Farmersville just before 11 a.m., included separate pileups on the northbound and southbound sides, state police said.
"The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility," Starrick said.
Involved in the collisions were two big rigs that had been on fire, roughly 28 other commercial vehicles and as many as 60 passenger vehicles, Starrick said.
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