INDIANAPOLIS — A Tennessee man was killed in a crash when his car hit a semi-truck and burst into flames on I-65 in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon.
Indiana State Police said 28-year-old Eduard Chekhun of Sevierville, Tennessee, was driving a BMW at a high rate of speed when he came upon stopped traffic.
His BMW hit the back of a semi-truck that was stopped in traffic on I-65 near Meridian Street.
Investigators said the BMW immediately caught fire. Several bystanders tried to help, but were unable to access the car due to the severity of the damage and the intensity of the fire.
Dispatchers started getting 911 calls about the crash just after 3:30 p.m. According to state police, Trooper Kari Woodard was on the scene minutes later. She tried to get the victim out of the vehicle and put the fire out with her fire extinguisher.
A short time later, firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames, then pulled Chekhun from the heavily damaged vehicle.
Chekhun was the only person in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the semi-truck driver was not injured.
The crash caused the southbound lanes of I-65 to be closed for approximately three hours while the crash was investigated and the vehicles were removed.