Kansas man killed, four injured in six-vehicle crash on I-70 during dust storm

One person died and four people were injured in a six-vehicle crash caused by blowing dust Tuesday on I-70 near Colby, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.

Gary L. Stoll, a 75-year-old Oakley man, was taken to the Colby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The four people who were injured — one injury thought to be serious and the others minor — were in the same vehicle.

“Blowing dust across the interstate causing visual obstruction is a factor in the collision,” a KHP trooper wrote in a crash report.

High winds caused the blowing dust. That combined with the crash led to officials closing the highway in both directions Tuesday afternoon. The lanes reopened later Tuesday afternoon and evening.

The accidents started around 1:15 p.m. in the eastbound lanes.

Here is what the crash report says happened:

A 53-year-old semi driver from Wisconsin slowed down after the “storm caused little to zero visibility across the roadway.” A 70-year-old Ness City man, driving a 2023 Toyota Highlander, collided with the semi-trailer.

Neither of them were injured.

The semi driver continued on to a truck stop; the Ness City man’s SUV was disabled and stopped in the right lane.

A 65-year-old Oklahoma man was driving a semi behind the Ness City man when his “on-board forward crash detection sensor stopped the vehicle” before hitting the SUV.

That’s when Stoll, driving a 2014 Ford Explorer, hit the semi’s trailer, causing the vehicle to be “redirected” into the median where it came to rest.

Then a 65-year-old Wichita man, driving a 2026 Acura MDX with three passengers, hit the rear of the semi’s trailer. The SUV “under-rode the trailer.”

A 65-year-old Arkansas man’s vehicle hit the rear of the SUV; he and his passengers had no apparent injuries.

However, the Wichita man was taken to Wesley Medical Center with suspected minor injuries. A 63-year-old Wichita woman in his vehicle was also taken to Wesley with suspected serious injuries. His other two passengers, a 71-year-old man and 66-year-old woman, both of Dodge City, were taken to Citizens Medical Center in Colby with suspected minor injuries.

About 90 seconds after the accident was reported, a dispatcher said a person called first responders from a couple miles away from the crash, saying there was a “brownout. No visibility.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 10:18 AM.