DIVERNON, Ill. – I-55 is back open Tuesday morning after being shutdown for nearly 19 hours following a deadly wreck involving approximately 80 vehicles. Illinois State Police (ISP) says six people died and more than 30 people were taken to the hospital.

What You Need To Know

  • I-55 is back open after a dust storm led to several crashes

  • Illinois State Police say there are several fatalities and nearly 30 injuries

  • There were approximately 80 vehicles involved, including two tractor-trailers that caught fire

The wrecks happened as high winds blew dust from farm fields across the interstate, creating poor visibility around 11:00 a.m. Monday. 

Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick it was a spring version of a “whiteout situation” typically seen in winter snowstorms.

ISP says there was a crash on northbound I-55 near milemarker 76. There were also numerous crashes on the southbound side in the same area. There were about 20 commerical vehicles and 40 to 60 passenger cars involved in the crash. 

Two semi-tractor trailers caught fire as a result of the crashes. 

"This is a difficult scene, something that is very hard to train for, something that we really haven't experienced locally," said Kevin Schott, Director of Emergency Services in Montgomery County, Ill. 

The fatalities happened in the northbound lane. The first victim to be indentified is 88-year-old Shirley Harper from Franklin, Wis. Those hurt in the crash range in age from 2 to 80 and have injuries from minor to life-threatening, police said.

“The only thing you could hear after we got hit was crash after crash after crash behind us,” said Tom Thomas, 43, who was traveling south to St. Louis.

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, then returned after the chain reaction of crashes ended behind him.

Socarras Quintero said the dust continued to blow ferociously as he checked on other motorists and emergency crews arrived. He held up his backpack, caked with dust even though it was inside a closed truck cab.

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

“You couldn’t even see,” 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.”

The interstate was shutdown for hours as crews worked to clear dozens of wrecked vehicles.  

Two reunification centers were set up Monday to help drivers connect with loved ones. ISP has set up a phoneline for those involved in the crash. They can call 618-346-3653 to get information and ask questions.