BMW, big rig in fatal head-on collision on Highway 41, CHP reports

A man and a woman died in a head-on crash with a big rig Monday afternoon on Highway 41 south of Lemoore.

According to the California Highway Patrol incident page, a big rig collided head-on with a black SUV going south on Highway 41 near 22nd Avenue, south of the community of Strathmore.

The BMW caught fire. The big rig, reportedly carrying 80,000 pounds of salsa in containers on a flat-bed trailer, ended up in a ditch.

The crash was reported at 2:19 p.m.

Both lanes of the highway were blocked. A SkyLife helicopter out of Visalia was called to the scene.

According to the CHP report on the crash, both occupants of the BMW died at the scene. Their bodies had not been identified as of Tuesday morning.

The truck driver, a 40-year-old Lemoore man, was not injured.

CHP says its investigators determined the BMW driver allowed his vehicle to veer onto the right shoulder then overcorrected, ending up in the northbound lane.

This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 3:57 PM.