Utah sandstorm leaves seven dead in 20-vehicle highway pile-up

At least seven people have been killed in a 20-car pile up on a highway after a sandstorm reduced visibility to dangerous levels.

According to the state Department of Public Safety, the crash on Interstate 15 occurred at around 4:30 pm yesterday, and began when people began stopping in poor conditions – triggering what a highway patrol spokesman called a “chain reaction”.

“Nobody could see,” trooper Andrew Battenfield said, according to the New York Times. and then all of a sudden, you’re slamming into a car. It’s just a horrific situation.” The scale of the crash was such that it was not immediately clear to authorities how many people have been hospitalized, and a section of the highway was closed for several hours.