SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The death toll from numerous crashes on Interstate 55 that occurred amid a blinding May 1 dust storm has risen to eight. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon says 81-year-old Ruth Rau of Sorento died of blunt force injuries Tuesday night at a Springfield hospital. She was a passenger in a car that crashed in the dust storm. The crashes involved a total of 72 vehicles, with at least 37 people taken to hospitals. Police have said high winds had kicked up dangerous clouds of blinding dust off farm fields.
