Crash Kills Driver, Closes 2 Highways

A semi-trailer truck loaded with paint drums smashed into a concrete pillar and blew up, killing the driver and closing two major highways near here Tuesday.

All northbound lanes and one southbound lane of Interstate 15 were reopened about three hours after the 7:20 a.m. accident, but the Joshua Overpass--where U.S. 395 branches away from the interstate--remained closed pending engineering examination.

A spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said the southbound truck, which was carrying four dozen 55-gallon drums of volatile lacquer, crashed into one of the supports of the overpass, triggering fears that it might have been impaired by the subsequent explosion.

Identity of the driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was withheld pending notification of his family.