AUTOS

Truck with Side-Mounted Tank in Fiery Crash: General Motors Corp. said that the truck involved in a fiery Thanksgiving Day crash killing six people in Chicago was a 1985 Chevrolet C/K pickup truck equipped with side-mounted fuel tanks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked GM to recall its 1973-87 C/K trucks because the federal agency believes the fuel tank design is defective and makes the trucks vulnerable to side-impact crashes. In the Chicago crash, the truck swerved, crossed a highway median and struck a compact car head-on before going into a spin, bursting into flames and slamming into a second car. On Dec. 6, NHTSA plans to hold a public hearing on the trucks in which families of crash victims are expected to testify. About 6 million of the trucks are still on the road, and critics attribute more than 300 deaths to fiery side impact crashes involving the vehicles.