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Four people were killed and 29 injured in a Tuesday morning crash on Interstate 25 in southern Colorado involving more than 30 vehicles, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Heavy winds blew dirt across I-25 south of Pueblo around 10 a.m., causing “brown out” conditions along the interstate, state patrol officials said.
“Visibility was next to nothing,” Maj. Brian Lyons of the Colorado State Patrol said.
As of 4 p.m., northbound I-25 remained closed between exit 91 for Stem Beach and Colorado 45 in Pueblo, near milemarker 94, according to state transportation officials. The interstate’s southbound lanes were cleared and reopened around 2:30 p.m..
The northbound lanes will remain closed “for an extended period of time” as the crash cleanup and investigation continue, state patrol officials said in an afternoon update.
Colorado State Patrol troopers responded to the pile-up crash on northbound I-25 involving commercial trucks and passenger cars about two miles south of Pueblo at 10:02 a.m. Tuesday, according to the state patrol. When troopers arrived, they also found a secondary crash in the southbound lanes.
Together, the two crashes involved more than 30 vehicles, including six semitrailers, and four people were confirmed dead, state patrol officials said.
The fatalities and injuries all occurred in the large crash in the northbound lanes, state patrol officials said. The crash in the southbound lanes only resulted in damage to vehicles.
Paramedics took 29 people injured in the crash to hospitals, state patrol officials said. The extent of their injuries is unknown. Another 10 uninjured people remained on scene after the crash.
The victims killed in the crash will be identified by the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office after their families have been notified, according to the state patrol.
A pickup truck hauling a trailer containing goats was among the vehicles involved in the northbound crash. Four of those goats were killed, state patrol officials said, and 28 survived and were safely removed from the crash site.
Drivers are asked to take alternate routes and avoid the area, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
Information about the cause of the crash was not available, and it’s unknown when the northbound highway will reopen.
The state patrol will not be able to confirm the total number of vehicles involved in the crash until the highway has been cleared, spokesperson Sherri Mendez said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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