Head-On Crash on 2-Lane Desert Highway Kills 5

Five people were killed Thursday in a head-on collision on U.S. 395, officials said.

The accident occurred about 8:35 a.m., when one of the two vehicles crossed the center line on the two-lane highway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Annalee Guerra. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames when authorities arrived.

All the victims were burned beyond recognition, and identification was expected to be made through dental records over the next week.

Authorities initially believed that four people had been killed, but they later found another victim in one of the vehicles.

The highway was closed for hours between Crippen Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road. Adelanto is west of Victorville, 60 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.