As Illinois dust storm blinds drivers, six die in chain-reaction crashes

A dust storm that cut visibility to near zero on Monday triggered a series of chain-reaction crashes involving dozens of vehicles on an Illinois highway, killing six people and injuring at least two dozen others, state police and coroner's officials said.

Roughly 40 to 60 passenger cars and about 20 commercial vehicles, including numerous tractor-trailer rigs, were involved in the pileup around 11 a.m. CT (1200 ET) 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 by telephone that 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 pileup near the town of Farmersville, about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Chicago, was caused by "excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, resulting in zero visibility."

The 17-mile 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," US Representative Nikki Budzinski of Illinois said on Twitter. -- Reuters