Three children among six killed in Montana highway pile-up caused by dust storm

A dust storm on a highway in Montana caused a 21-vehicle pileup on Friday, leading to the deaths of six people -- including three children, one of which was a 3-year-old.

The Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) told local news affiliate KRTV that the pile-up was a result of a dust storm that “reduced visibility to almost zero.”

Strong winds were recorded with gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph) that kicked up the dust. Meteorologists had forecasted thunderstorms ahead of the winds.

MHP confirmed that there were six fatalities and eleven individuals injured, including three who needed hospitalisation and were in critical condition on Monday night. They also noted that the crash involved twenty-nine individuals in total.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told CNN this week that MHP is still investigating the multi-vehicle crash and that they “will release more information as it becomes available and is appropriate out of respect of the lives lost and their loved ones.”

The pile-up happened on Interstate 90, which is an important route in the northern US and the longest interstate highway in the country, stretching 3,020 miles from Seattle in the west to Boston in the east

The crash happened about 50 miles east of Montana's largest city, Billings, during heavy traffic.

Nick Vertz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, told the Associated Press that the wind seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“If they looked up in the sky while they’re in Hardin, they probably didn’t see much of what you’d think of for a thunderstorm cloud, maybe not even much at all,” Vertz recalled . “It was just a surge of wind that kind of appeared out of nowhere.”