Authorities say five people have died in a fiery six-vehicle wreck that temporarily closed a stretch of Interstate 70 on the western edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority says the crash happened Tuesday afternoon when a tractor-trailer crested a slight hill and failed to slow for traffic that was stalled because of construction. The westbound rig rammed three slowing passenger vehicles, including a car, before crashing into a stopped tractor-trailer. The car was forced under the stopped tractor-trailer, which then rear-ended a pickup truck. Both rigs and the car caught on fire. Another vehicle landed in a ditch.

The victims included a retired chemistry professor at Washburn University in Topeka. One of the victims wasn’t discovered until authorities were clearing the wreckage.

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Video via Alexander Vanderpool social media

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