(NEW YORK) — Multiple people are dead and dozens injured after a massive pileup Monday in Illinois caused by a sudden dust storm, officials said.

Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said during an afternoon press conference he did not have an official death toll, but said more than 30 people were transported to the hospital.

The crash took place at about 11 a.m. local time on Interstate 55 in Montgomery County, officials said.

Forty to 60 passenger vehicles and at least 20 commercial vehicles were involved in the crash, including two semi-trucks that caught fire, police said.

The cause of the crash was excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, Starrick said.

“It actually looks like snow almost when I was sending [my kids] videos,” said Karen Leach, who was caught up in the storm. “And it just it feels like, like the end of the world.”

Leach, who was driving an RV from Illinois to Texas, said she had been caught up in traffic for five hours.

The stretch of I-55 where the accident took place is expected to be closed until Tuesday afternoon, Starrick said.

Law enforcement is currently doing a secondary search of vehicles, but it’s preliminarily believed that everyone has been transported away from the scene, he said.

“My team and I are closely following the devastating crash on I-55 as authorities learn more,” Rep. Nikki Budzinski said in on Twitter. “Please be safe as this situation continues to unfold.”

ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Liza Burke, a 21-year-old college student at the University of Georgia, died Friday, nearly two months after she sustained a brain hemorrhage during a spring break trip to Mexico, according to her mother.

Burke’s mom, Laura McKeithan, shared an obituary on Facebook on Sunday, writing, “Following a six-week battle with a previously-undiagnosed brain tumor, Liza transitioned into the next realm peacefully while being cared for by friends and family.”

PHOTO: Liza Burke, a senior at the University of Georgia, suffered a medical emergency while on a spring break trip to Mexico.
Liza Burke, a senior at the University of Georgia, suffered a medical emergency while on a spring break trip to Mexico.
Courtesy Laura McKeithan
McKeithan told ABC News her daughter had “a knack for living life.” She also described Burke as a curious and loving person who adored animals and cared about the environment.

“Liza lived large, like every day could be her last,” McKeithan wrote on Facebook. “She was not only at ease in nature, she was intrepid—whether watching sunsets from a mountain top tent, swimming solo across any body of water, or surfing in Central America. As Liza matured, she accomplished more in 21 years than many people do in a lifetime. She spoke two languages, played guitar, traveled the world, went skydiving, hiked across a glacier, joyfully sang and danced — always without fear of judgement.”

In March, Burke had traveled with friends to Cabo San Lucas for spring break. During the trip, Burke had complained of a headache and went to lay down. Her friends later found her unresponsive, according to McKeithan, who added that Burke was transported to a local hospital and underwent surgery to relieve a brain bleed.

She was moved from the hospital in Mexico to The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where she had been making a slow recovery, according to McKeithan.

McKeithan said doctors had discovered her daughter had a tumor on her brain stem and were running tests to find out more information about her condition.

Burke was responsive then and had been able to open her eyes and squeeze her mom’s hand, according to McKeithan, but her prognosis quickly deteriorated. McKeithan said Burke went from being able to speak and walk to only being able to wiggle her toes and lift her eyebrows.

“At that point, we decided that we were going to take her somewhere to live out her final days where she could be surrounded by friends and family. So we rented a house near water, it’s on an inlet, where her family and her friends could come be with her and we could pull her outside into the breeze,” McKeithan said.

In Burke’s obituary, McKeithan said, “In her short time here, she gave off an extraordinary amount of light, energy, and love. Her life serves a reminder to go through life unapologetically, take chances, speak and act boldly, cherish the little things, laugh often, and to stay present.”

Burke is survived by her father, mother, stepfather and older brother.

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(MOJAVE, Calif.) — Four people were killed in a mass shooting in a remote part of California Sunday night, and police are searching for answers about the incident.

Authorities said they responded to a call at 11:20 p.m. on Sunday in remote Mojave and found four people shot.

“When deputies arrived on scene, they located four victims suffering from traumatic assault injuries,” the press release said.

All were shot in the head, a public information officer for the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. One male victim and two female victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and an additional female victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Investigators from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office are “rapidly” pursuing leads but do not have a suspect or motive for the incident. The office’s public information officer described the investigation as “difficult” due to the limited eyewitnesses to the shooting.

“KCSO homicide detectives are pursuing all investigative leads to identify and arrest the suspect(s) responsible for this crime,” a press release noted.

Mojave is a small desert community about 50 miles east of Bakersfield, CA.

The shooting follows a Friday night shooting in Cleveland, TX, that left five dead from an “execution style” shooting. In both the Texas and California instances, investigators are still searching for the shooting suspect.

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