Golden Sun eXtra Your Local News Source, Mohave County, AZ

Authorities are reporting three people are dead after a heavy dust storm caused nearly two dozen collisions on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande Tuesday morning. Officials say five seriously injured people were air-lifted to Valley hospitals. It is unclear how many people total were injured in the crashes.

DPS said that around 11:00 a.m. officers responded to 20 or more collisions between milepost 190 and 215 near Casa Grande. Two separate collisions occured along a stretch of highway in the Coolidge, Eloy and Casa Grande areas. In one, several vehicles caught fire and became engulfed in flames, including a commercial vehicle that "exploded."

DPS said seven commercial vehicles were involved in the crash along with an unknown number of other vehicles. There were a number of patients with injuries, including burns and traumatic injuries.

The westbound travel lanes for I-10 in the area of mileposts 213-215 have re-opened, according to DPS. Officers will be conducting "rolling traffic breaks" to slow motorists down to safe travel speeds. The eastbound travel lanes remain closed.

DPS also says that dust and storm activity on Interstate 10 near the California border has caused visibility problems. Officials are asking motorists to slow down drastically in an area 30 to 50 miles west of Phoenix.

Winds are expected to be high Tuesday night and Wednesday in western Arizona and along the Colorado River Valley.

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