Two truck drivers killed in fiery head-on crash on I-25 after hitting elk
Jul. 19—Two semitractor-trailer drivers were killed in a head-on collision Thursday night after one of them hit an elk on Interstate 25 and swerved into the opposite lane near Caballo Lake.
Lt. Philip Vargas, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, said the trucks burst into flames, and both drivers died at the scene.
He said one driver was identified as Adrian Cruz of El Paso, and the other "remains unidentified at this time."
"New Mexico State Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this tragic crash," Vargas said.
He said officers responded around 10:50 p.m. to the crash on I-25, near mile marker 59, and found both semitractor-trailers "engulfed in flames, resulting in the complete burn-through of both trucks."
Vargas said the investigation found one truck was headed north when it hit an elk in the middle of the road. Vargas said the collision caused the driver to swerve to the left and go through the median into southbound traffic. The truck collided with the other truck, being driven by Cruz.
"The impact of the collision caused both vehicles to catch fire," he said.
It was the second traffic fatality spurred by an impact to an animal on I-25 in the past few months. In May, a 22-year-old woman was struck by a driver while cleaning up debris on the highway near Socorro.
Police learned the woman and another man had just gotten into a crash while avoiding a deer in the road. The pair were cleaning debris from that crash when the woman was hit by a driver, who then fled the scene.
