The four people killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 near Benson Friday night were from Louisiana and California, a spokesman from the Arizona Department of Public Safety said Tuesday.
Officials said the driver of a semi who was carrying coffee beans was heading west on the freeway when he swerved into the east lanes, slamming into another semi around 8 p.m. Friday.
The impact between the two rigs prompted both to burst into flames, DPS spokesman Bart Graves said. The driver of the second semi, which was hauling electronics, then struck a pickup. The driver of the second semi and the people in the pickup were killed, investigators said.Â
Graves said the victims in the pickup were driver Adolfo Valdez, 30, and passenger Claudia Espinoza, 50, both of Moorpark,  California. The other victims in the second tractor-trailer were driver Lamar Bryant, 36, and passenger Desi Draughn, 47, both of New Orleans.Â
Troopers are still investigating why the driver of the first semi crossed into the opposite lanes. The trucker is in the hospital in Tucson in extremely critical condition and authorities have been unable to interview him, Graves said.
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