TONOPAH, AZ — Four people are dead after a multi-vehicle, chain reaction crash on Interstate 10 west of Tonopah Saturday afternoon.
Officials say the crash happened near milepost 89, west of Tonopah, just before 1 p.m.
Department of Public Safety officials say 12 vehicles were involved in the crash, including six commercial vehicles.
Multiple vehicles reportedly caught fire.
Four people, who have not been identified at this time, died as a result of the crash. DPS had reported six deaths on Saturday, but that number was lowered to four on Sunday morning. Several others were hospitalized.
ABC15 spoke to Cassie Smith, whose grandparents were on their way to a softball game in Phoenix when she says a dust storm suddenly blocked their view of the road. Within seconds, they were in the middle of a pile-up, and their car had caught on fire. In the madness, they lost track of their senior chihuahua, Lou Lou.
Smith hopes Lou Lou can be found while her grandparents continue to recover in the hospital.
Both directions of I-10 were closed at the time.
The westbound lanes reopened later Saturday afternoon, but the eastbound lanes did not reopen until early Sunday morning.
DPS has not confirmed if wind and dust were factors that led to the crash, but with Saturday's windy conditions across central Arizona, it has not been ruled out.
The crash remains under investigation.
