Excerpts from nbcnews.com:
The death from Monday’s pileups in rural Illinois rose to seven, as officials said vehicles were so mangled, with some in flames immediately after the pileups, that criminal investigative techniques have been deployed to identify some of the victims.
Thirty-seven other people, ages 2 to 80, were hospitalized with injuries from minor to life-threatening. All the dead were found in northbound lanes although there was also wreckage on the southbound side.
The collisions, reported just before 11 a.m. Monday, involved 72 vehicles in multiple pileups along a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 north of Farmersville, about 25 miles south of Springfield.. The first pileup was reported on the northbound side of the interstate, which runs through farm country. Topsoil and dust from nearby farms were blown across the roadway.
One crash victim was identified as 88-year-old Shirley Harper of Franklin, Wisconson. Others were expected to be identified by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in the coming days.
The National Weather Service on Monday forecast widespread blowing dust, with gusts of 34 mph possible, for the Farmersville area. Winds were out of the northwest.
The interstate reopened Tuesday morning after wreckage could be cleared and investigators could examine the scene.
