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PINAL COUNTY - Three people were killed during a dust-related accident Tuesday on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande.

The Department of Public Safety says heavy dust storms caused at least 22 vehicles to be involved in 2 separate accidents in that area, closing the freeway in both directions just before 11am Tuesday. The interstate reopened around 8:00pm.

Two of the victims were teenagers from Casa Grande. DPS says 14-year-old Mark Eide and 17-year-old Katie Eide died. Also killed was 25-year-old Edgar Ivan Medina Vargas from Iowa City, Iowa.

According to DPS, Katie and her brother Mark were driving to the Dairy Queen at Picacho Peak when they were involved in the crash. Friends of the siblings say they were well-known and very athletic. Katie was on the volleyball team. Mark ran track and cross-country. He was also well known for this long blond hair and had acquired the nickname, "Sunshine."

25-year-old Vargas was in a pick-up truck being followed by his father in a semi-truck. Incidentally, DPS says, the father ended up rear-ended his son in the pick-up truck which pushed the pick-up into a stopped tractor-trailer ahead of him.

According to DPS, five people were flown to area hospitals. Another nine people were transported by ambulance. All but one of those patients have been released from the hospital.

DPS officers say there were 2 separate accidents involving a total of 22 vehicles, but the two accidents were very close together. In the first accident
12 cars were involved. Another 10 were in the second.

In the chaos many people pulled off the road and that prevented more casualties, says DPS. One person involved in the crash told us, she considered herself very lucky to have not been injured.

A second accident prompted DPS to extend the road closure to include westbound lanes at milepost 214 outside of the Eloy/Coolidge area.

If you know anyone travelling in the area, use extreme caution along the freeway. In addition, if you have pictures, please send them to newstips@kvoa.com.

Up close in the accident. Photo from Twitpic. Courtesy http://twitpic.com/up0q7.

A photo from Twitpic showing the low visibility along the freeway. Courtesy http://twitpic.com/up1o7.

A photo of the largest accident along the freeway. You can see multiple burned and wrecked trailers. Photo from the scene by KVOA reporter Greg Dingrando.

A member of support personnel bravely walks outside of his vehicle wearing what appears to be a gas mask. Photo sent by viewer Shelley Ain.

A picture of one of the collisions involving two semi's that have collided. This is one of the subsidiary accidents.

Traffic in the area is backed up as far as a helicopter can see.

A photo of crews working on the largest accident taken from a helicopter.

Here is a photo of the dust crossing the freeway. You can see a swath approximately 100 yards long, and miles wide brings visibility down to zero along the freeway.