Update: This story has been updated with new information.
The identities of the two people who died in a deadly big-rig crash on eastbound Interstate 10 on Thursday morning in Cathedral City were released by the Riverside County Coroner.
Francisco Sicairos Leon, 58, of Desert Hot Springs and Miguel Macias, 49 of Santa Ana died as a result of the accident that occurred when a semitruck traveling west lost control and careened through the median, tipped on its side and slid into oncoming traffic traveling east.
The collision happened at 6:51 a.m. on Thursday morning near Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City and involved multiple cars colliding with the overturned semi. According to reports, the driver of the semi suffered minor injuries but survived.
According to California Highway Patrol, a 2015 Freightliner pulling a two-axle dump trailer was driving westbound on I-10, when it made an unsafe turning movement to the left, crashed through a guardrail in the center median and overturned into the eastbound lanes. As the Freightliner and trailer entered the eastbound lanes, it crashed into a total of five other vehicles.
A male driver of a Mercury Mountaineer was declared deceased at the scene, as was an adult passenger that was unbelted in the rear seat of a Toyota Camry.
The female driver and female adult passenger in the Toyota Camry were both wearing seatbelts and sustained major injuries. The female driver of a Chevrolet Malibu was also wearing a seatbelt and sustained major injuries. A Toyota Tacoma driven by an adult male and Cadillac Escalade driven by an adult male, were also involved in the crash, but did not sustain injuries.
All injured parties were transported to Desert Regional Medical Center.
The accident snarled traffic as I-10 East was completely shut down for around two and a half hours, before two lanes were opened around 9 a.m. All lanes opened around 2:15 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coroner identifies two people killed in Interstate 10 crash on Thursday
Reporting by Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
