MICHIGAN CITY | A fiery three-semitrailer wreck Monday afternoon killed a truck driver and paralyzed traffic on Interstate 94.

Eastbound lanes were closed from 1 to 8:30 p.m. as police officers, firefighters and hazardous materials crews cleaned up charred wreckage less than two miles from the Michigan border. Westbound lanes also were closed for two hours after the wreck.

At 5 p.m., crews still were trying to pull the driver's body from the burned semi cab, said John Sullivan, LaPorte County chief deputy coroner.

Neither the LaPorte County coroner nor the Indiana State Police released the dead driver's name Monday night. A state trooper said at 9:45 p.m. investigators didn't know the dead driver's identity and failed to reach the driver's trucking company.

Just before the crash at 12:55 p.m., vehicles idled in eastbound lanes as they waited to travel a construction zone in Michigan, said Indiana State Police Sgt. Wanda Clay. Two semis were stopped as a third semi approached.

For reasons unknown to investigators Monday afternoon, the third semi crashed into the rear of one of the stopped semis, knocking the stopped semi into another stopped semi, Clay said.

The impact sparked a blaze that torched two of the semis, including the one carrying the driver who died, Clay said. The driver who died was trapped in his semi during the blaze, she said.

Semi drivers Ibrahim Yilmaz, 38, and Rajinder S. Ghotra, 35, both of Ontario, Canada, escaped the crash and fire unhurt, Clay said. Both were wearing seat belts, she said.

A hazardous materials team worked to clean up spilled diesel Monday afternoon.

Signs diverted traffic off I-94 during the closure.