The Region - News from Aug. 5, 1986

Two people died in the burning wreckage of a car and big-rig truck that collided before dawn on Interstate 10 east of Indio. The truck driver apparently lost control, skidded into oncoming traffic, and crushed the car against the center wall, killing both occupants and engulfing both vehicles in flames, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Granger said. The truck driver, Virgil Strickland, 39, of Cleveland, Tenn., escaped uninjured. The driver of the car and a passenger could not immediately be identified. The west lanes of the highway about 20 miles from Indio were closed for two hours.