LOCAL : 2 Die in Truck Crash Near Castaic

Two people were killed this morning in an accident that closed three lanes of the Golden State Freeway near Castaic for an hour, the California Highway Patrol said.

Names of the victims, a 45-year-old man and 39-year-old woman from Sacramento, were withheld until their families could be notified. Officer David Stark said the victims were in a flatbed truck that ran into the rear of a trailer-truck about 5:30 a.m. in a southbound lane near the Templin Highway exit.

Stark said the flatbed was carrying barrels containing small electric engines. The barrels shifted forward on collision and crushed the truck cab and spilled onto the freeway.

Both victims were dead at the scene. The driver of the trailer-truck, Dennis Smith, 28, of Scappoose, Ore., was not injured. The freeway lanes were closed for an hour while the debris was cleared. The accident is still under investigation, Stark said.