The wreckage of the Utah highway caused by the sandstorm killed 8 people, half of whom were children Reuters

By Kitschoffman

(Reuters)-Police said on Monday that 8 people were killed in a 22-car collision on a highway in Midwestern Utah over the weekend, 4 of whom were children. Motorists were blinded by sandstorms from the wind. .

Authorities said ten injured survivors were taken to the district hospital, three of whom are in critical condition.

The Utah Highway Patrol said in a statement that the chain reaction accident occurred on Interstate 15 in Millard County at about 4:30 pm local time on Sunday. Eight deaths occurred in three vehicles. Different vehicles.

The dead included a 15-year-old Cadillac passenger from Arizona, and three young children from Utah-12, 6 and 2 years old-they were killed in a separate car with two adult family members , The police said. Another couple from Utah died in the third car.

The tragedy occurred on a highway about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City. The high winds brought a cloud of dust that affected visibility and blocked traffic on the highway. Police said a semi-trailer hit a pickup truck in a traffic jam, causing a deadly chain reaction to the wreckage.

“The most serious crash occurred behind a semi-trailer, and two vehicles were caught behind the trailer,” the state patrol said in a statement. “They seem to have been hit from behind by another pickup truck.”

The aerial and ground images of the wreckage posted by the Highway Patrol on its website show a row of damaged cars and trucks, as well as piles of debris scattered on interstate highways. The picture shows a red car embedded in the back of a tractor trailer.