Illinois dust storm: Drivers describe blind terror of 72-car pile-up on Interstate 55 that killed seven
Shirley Harper, 88, was named as the first victim killed in the dust storm accident on interstate 55 near Springfield, Illinois
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The first victim has been identified after a dust storm caused a 72 vehicle pile-up on the I-55 outside of Springfield, Illinois.
The massive pile-up occurred during a dust storm with low visibility on Monday (May 1) morning.
Seven victims were killed while 37 were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, and those hurt are two to 80 years old, Illinois State Police said in a statement.
Shirley Harper, 88, was named as the first victim killed in the tragedy. The death toll was initially reported as six but rose to seven on Tuesday as investigators asked for the public’s help in identifying two yet-to-be-named victims.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s office is working to identify the five others and notify their families.
Kevin Schott, the director of Montgomery County’s Emergency Management Agency, said that efforts to rescue victims were hampered by the thick dust on the scene as well as multiple vehicle fires which made it difficult to get to “victims in a rapid manner”.
‘You couldn’t even see’, says witness of massive highway pileup
Evan Anderson, 25, who was returning home to St Louis from Chicago, said a semi turned before striking his vehicle, sparing him from even more damage.“You couldn’t even see,” Mr Anderson said.
“People tried to slow down and other people didn’t, and I just got plowed into. There were just so many cars and semitrucks with so much momentum behind them.”
Dairon Socarras Quintero, 32, who was driving to St Louis to make deliveries for his custom frame company based in Elk Grove Village, said that after his truck hit the vehicle in front of him, he exited and moved to the side of the road to ensure his safety, then returned after the chain reaction of crashes ended behind him.
Mr Socarras Quintero said the dust continued to blow ferociously as he checked on other motorists and emergency personnel arrived. He held up his backpack, which was caked with dust even though it was inside a closed truck cab.
Winds at the time were gusting between 35 mph (56 kph) and 45 mph (74 kph), the National Weather Service said.
PICTURED: The aftermath of the pile-up
Video of fatal dust storm in Illinois
Thick dust made rescue efforts difficult
Kevin Schott, the director of Montgomery County’s Emergency Management Agency, said that efforts to rescue victims were hampered by the thick dust on the scene as well as multiple vehicle fires.
These conditions made it difficult to get to “victims in a rapid manner”, he said.
“This is a difficult scene, something that is very hard to train for, something that we really haven’t experienced locally,” he said.
“We had to search every vehicle, whether they were involved in the accident or just pulled over, to check for injuries.”
First victim identified
The first victim has been identified after a dust storm caused a 72 vehicle pile-up on the I-55 outside of Springfield, Illinois.
The massive pile-up occurred during a dust storm with low visibility on Monday morning.
Six victims were killed while 37 were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, and those hurt are two to 80 years old, Illinois State Police said in a statement.
Shirley Harper, 88, was named as the first victim killed in the tragedy.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s office is working to identify the five others and notify their families.
Emergency director describes scene of crash
“We had multiple vehicles involved, some were on fire,” said Montgomery County EMA Director Kevin Schotthe during a news briefing.
“So we had vehicle fires to extinguish, we had to search every vehicle whether they were involved in the accident or just pulled over to check for injuries, to getting them out of there rapidly and getting to the hospital so that we can provide professional care for them.”
How common are dust storms in Illinois?
Dust storms aren’t unheard of in the area of the crash.
“This has happened before in various parts of the state of the Illinois, where unfortunately due to excessive high winds, that once the farmers have turned the field, the topsoil or the dirt that’s on top there gets loose,” major Ryan Starrick said on Monday during his press conference.
“It’s extremely dry, and due to the excessive winds of the area, will blow across certain roadways.”
What is a dust storm?
A dust storm is a wall of dust and debris that is blown into an area by very strong winds which are often produced by thunderstorms, according to the NOAA.
The wall of dust can be miles long and several thousand feet high.
Dust storms are more common in areas that are flat and that have very few trees and plants, as this allows winds to build up momentum.
The weather event is more common in the Middle East and North Africa but are also known to happen in the US, particularly in the Southwest during the spring.
Traffic moving again on I-55
The aftermath of Monday’s pileup can still be seen around I-55, though all of the road obstructions have been cleared and traffic appears to have returned to normal.
Police have identified, but not named, three other victims of Monday’s crash
Law enfocement has reportedly identified three more victims in Monday’s crash.
Officials have not yet named the victims. Two of the victims were from Champaign, Illinois and one was from Florissant, Missouri, according to ABC7.
Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, Wisconsin, was the first of the six crash fatalities that police identified.
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