Fiery highway pileup in New Mexico dust storm leaves
six dead
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
A crash along a remote stretch of Interstate
10 left six people dead. A car apparently stopped abruptly in a dust storm,
police said, leading to a pileup. (New Mexico State Police)
t least six people
died in a fiery chain-reaction crash on a remote stretch of New Mexico highway
after the lead vehicle apparently stopped abruptly when it was overcome by a blinding
dust storm, a state police spokesman said Friday.
Though a New Mexico
State Police officer arrived within minutes, the fire department took longer to
reach the scene of the incident in Hidalgo County.
Three cars, an RV and
three trucks were involved in the string of collisions Thursday night. By
the time firefighters arrived, all but the RV were engulfed in flames, police
spokesman Sgt. Damyan Brown said. The identities of the charred vehicles and
the bodies couldn't be immediately determined.
The crash happened on
Interstate 10, about six miles east of the Arizona border. Dust storms are
forewarned along the interstate through signs urging drivers to exercise
caution.
Brown said police
recommend that drivers caught in a dust storm slow down and turn on their
hazard lights. Dust storms should only last a couple of minutes, he said.
"Don’t stop in
your lane or the shoulder because it’s extremely dangerous, since
tractor-trailers have an inability to quickly stop," Brown said.
A major storm system remained
positioned above central New Mexico on Friday, leading to severe thunderstorm
warnings around Albuquerque. Gusts were expected to reach 60 mph.
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