Desert Hot Springs man and Yucca Valley man identified in fatal Landers crash

A 52-year-old Desert Hot Springs resident was among two men killed in a three-vehicle crash in San Bernardino County, the coroner’s office reported today.

Samuel Hernandez and 21-year-old Yucca Valley resident Clifford George Lopez died at the scene of the Wednesday morning crash on state Route 247, just north of Linn Road in Landers.

Hernandez was a passenger in Lopez’s 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer, which was struck head-on by a Dodge pickup truck about 4 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol’s Morongo Basin station.

Douglas Barnes of Victorville was behind the wheel of the pickup that crossed the double yellow lines on state Route 247 and initially struck a Jeep, which spun out of control and veered off the roadway, eventually catching fire, according to the CHP. The truck then slammed into Lopez’s Mitsubishi, which had been traveling directly behind the Jeep.

The Jeep’s three occupants were able to escape the wreck unharmed. Barnes was not injured, according to CHP.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.