Driver dead in fiery crash on I-70

Update: The Hendricks County Coroner’s Office has identified the driver who died as Diane Jucha, 68, of Martinsville, Indiana.

PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A serious crash in Hendricks County has blocked off traffic on Interstate 70, officials say.

At 12:05 p.m. Saturday, Indiana State Police dispatchers received multiple calls about a serious multi-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes of I-70 near the 64 mile marker, which is two miles west of the Plainfield exit.

When police and emergency services arrived, they located several severely damaged vehicles, including a vehicle that was upside down and fully engulfed in flames. After the Plainfield Fire Department extinguished the flames, they located the driver, who was entrapped in the wreckage.

The driver was dead on the scene. The identity of the driver is being withheld by police to allow time for family notifications.

First responders found two other individuals requiring medical care. They were transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. There were three semi-tractor trailers and four passenger vehicles involved in the accident.

The crash closed the eastbound lanes of I-70 for nearly six hours while the crash was investigated and the wreckage was removed.

Investigators determined that traffic was backed up from a minor crash on the side of the interstate just west of the crash scene. As traffic backed up, the driver of the semi-tractor trailer failed to stop in time and hit the back of stopped traffic. Two vehicles rolled over and several other vehicles received heavy damage.

The circumstances of the crash are still under investigation, police say.

One eastbound lane is open at this time. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be a contributing factor in the crash.

News 8’s Jay Adkins contributed to this story