OTTAWA - One of two LaSalle women who were killed Oct. 16 in an Interstate 39 crash near Tonica was killed by fire, a coroner's jury heard this week.

The driver, Antonia Aquilera, and her passenger, Maricela Carreon, both 39, were killed when their Jeep Cherokee was pushed into a stopped semitrailer truck by another vehicle while they were headed to work in Wenona.

Their deaths were found to be accidental.

The Jeep's gas tank ignited, causing intense flames, said Illinois State Police accident reconstruction Chad Broyles. The legs of both women were pinned in the wreckage, though one witness was able to free Carreon before she died of accident injuries.

LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard said it took DNA results to positively identify Aquilera.

Russell Flanders, 22, of Elburn was the driver of the pickup truck that pushed the Aquilera car into the rear of the semitrailer truck, said police. He was treated for injuries.

No charges have been filed, pending completion of the investigation.

There was no alcohol or drugs involved in the accident, Bernard said.

The carbon monoxide level in Aquilera's system was about half of that of a smoker, indicating she died of the flames in the wreck and not the fumes, Bernard said.

Rutland Township crash

In an unrelated fatal accident, Boyles said it is not known why Michael Obbink, 22, of Ottawa failed to yield to an oncoming truck Nov. 9 on Illinois 71 in Rutland Township. Obbink's autopsy showed no alcohol he but did have marijuana in his system.

His death was ruled accidental.