MADISON COUNTY • Westbound lanes of Interstate 70 near Highland are open again after being closed most of the day while police investigated a crash that left two Indiana men dead.

Police say the men were in a tractor-trailer rig that caught fire. They were identified as the driver of the rig, Jerald D. Jaynes, 52, of Seymour, Ind., and a passenger, William T. Burleson, 23, of Greensburg, Ind.

Police said the rig they were riding in plowed into the rear of another tractor-trailer rig at the end of a line of vehicles stopped because of an earlier accident shortly before 7 a.m. Monday. The impact caused a chain reaction that damaged two other vehicles, a pickup and a third tractor-trailer.

The first crash occurred about 10 minutes earlier and about a mile farther west. Both crashes were between the two I-70 exits for Illinois Route 143.

Drivers of two of the other three vehicles in the second crash were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Highland with minor injuries. The third driver was unhurt.

In the first crash, a tractor-trailer's front cabin and trailer became separated and veered off opposite sides of the highway, causing minor injuries to the driver, Master Sgt. Chris Trame said. The truck lost its load, dumping boxes of food across the median.

Police also reported a third crash near the first two involving a tractor-traler and a motorcycle. Police said the motorcycle slammed into the back of the tractor-trailer, causing minor injuries.

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(Editor's Note: This story was updated to correct the location of the crashes and insert the police officer's full name and rank.)