Two people died and at least 16 people were hurt in several multi-vehicle pileups when a sandstorm wiped out visibility along Highway 58 in California.

"You couldn't see your hand in front of you," one driver told KBAK-TV in Bakersfield.

.The California Highway Patrol said the fatalities occurred in separate crashes about 1,000 yards apart in the desert near Mojave, The Bakersfield Californian reported. The victims were identified as James Stanley Parsons, 73, Vancouver, Wash., and Ernest Dale Codd, 64, British Columbia.

Two of the injured were reported in critical condition, the newspaper said.

More than a dozen vehicles were involved in the various accidents as winds gusted to 55 mph, which prompted the closing of Highway 58 between Highways 395 and 202.

“High winds were blowing dust and dirt and creating pockets of zero visibility,” said California Highway Patrol Lt. Dana Leach. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 17 October 2007   

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