6 dead, dozens injured after dust storm causes 'horrific' pile-up on Illinois' I-55

At least six people are dead and dozens injured after a blinding dust storm caused a multi-vehicle pileup south of Springfield, Illinois, that Gov. J.B. Pritzker described as "horrific."

Traffic on Interstate 55 was shut down in both directions for nearly 30 miles.

Video images posted on Twitter showed dozens of cars and tractor-trailers in disarray amid billowing smoke and dust on both sides of the interstate late Monday morning. Flames were still visible from at least one vehicle. One photo depicted an almost apocalyptic scene of burnt wreckage silhouetted against the haze.

“The cause of the crashes is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, leading to zero visibility,” Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said at a news conference.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, the pileup took place just before 11 a.m. CDT near milepost 76 in south-central Illinois' Montgomery County, prompting authorities to close traffic between mileposts 52 and 80.

As of late Monday, the Illinois State Police said 72 vehicles were involved in the crashes, which included passenger cars and multiple tractor-trailers. Starrick said two tractor-trailers had caught fire. According to Montgomery County authorities, 10 helicopters were called to the scene in addition to a hazardous materials team to suppress fires, including a power tool battery blaze on a semitrailer.

Illinois State Police also reported that 37 people ages 2 to 80 were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening.

Of the six fatalities, one victim was identified Monday night as 88-year-old Shirley Harper of Franklin, Wisconsin. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office was working to identify the other five victims, according to the Illinois State Police.

According to WSIL chief meteorologist Nick Hausen, dust blowing off freshly cultivated fields led to low visibility in the area.

Nathan Cormier told Weather.com he was driving on the interstate when he saw a cloud of smoke ahead.

National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Schaffer told The Associated Press that the area is flat and has few trees.

“It’s been very dry across this area really for the last three weeks," Schaffer said. "The farmers are out there tilling their fields and planting. The top layer of soil is quite loose.”

Horrific 'dust bowl'

Evan Anderson, 25, who was returning home to St. Louis from Chicago, said a semitruck turned before striking his vehicle, sparing him from even more damage.

“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 semitrucks with so much momentum behind them.”

Kevin Schott, director of emergency services in Montgomery County, said it was a “very difficult scene” and one that’s “very hard to train for.”

“We had to search every vehicle, whether they were involved in the accident or just pulled over, to check for injuries,” he said. “People were “upset − visibly so, understandably so.”

"I've driven through them before, you know," Cormier said. "You put your hazards on, go slow. And I moved to the left lane to get away out from behind a semi. And that's when I came across everything else stopped in the road.”

He described the scene as a "dust bowl."

Authorities directed people seeking to reunify with people involved in the crash to call 1-800-RedCross. Officials expected the roadway to be closed through the evening, and travelers were urged to seek alternate routes. Wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph had blown through the area, according to Weather.com.

Dust storms are rare in the area. In 2014, dust blowing off dry farm fields near Carlinville, 45 miles south of Springfield, led to multiple collisions on Illinois’ State Highway 108. One driver told the (Springfield) State Journal-Register that loose dirt from plowed soybean fields had produced clouds of dust along the freeway, and police said visibility was hampered to the point that drivers could not see beyond the hoods of their vehicles.

Contributing: Tiffini Jackson and Steven Spearie, State Journal-Register; The Associated Press