LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Interstate 64 East remained closed late Wednesday night, more than 18 hours after a fiery crash before dawn near the Cochran Hill Tunnels. 

One person was killed after five vehicles crashed and caught fire on the interstate, shutting down both I-64 East and West. 

MetroSafe advised by late afternoon that it would be "several more hours" before the I-64 corridor would reopen. The westbound lanes of I-64 reopened just before 8 a.m.

The fatal crash took place Wednesday morning.

Heavy equipment worked into the night removing debris around the heavily charred trucks in the eastbound lanes. 

Louisville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said LMPD 5th Division officers, along with the Louisville Fire Department, responded to a call of a multi-vehicle collision on I-64 East at the end of the tunnels around 5:30 a.m. 

Officials said the collision involved five vehicles including two semi-trucks, a garbage truck and two passenger vehicles.

Mitchell said it is unclear why the vehicles collided with one another causing all the vehicles to catch fire.

Officials said the collision consisted of five vehicles: two semi-trucks, a garbage truck and two passenger vehicles.

One of the drivers in a semi-truck died the scene.

The drivers of the passenger vehicles and the garbage truck were transported to nearby hospitals with what police said were injuries not considered life-threatening. 

The driver of the second semi-truck was not injured.

Both directions of I-64 were closed. The westbound lanes reopened just before 8 a.m. As of 11 p.m., the eastbound lanes remain closed.

The traffic impact wasn't just felt on the interstate. It caused traffic jams across the city. 

"I was leaving, off the Fairdale exit, and I ended up getting off Eastern Parkway," said Ryan Taylor, who was out waiting in the traffic Wednesday evening. 

Taylor's 25-minute commute from work turned into a 40-minute bumper-to-bumper journey that took a detour to Never Say Die bar in St. Matthews.

"I've lived here my whole life, so I know how to wiggle my way around," he said. 

Causing even more frustration for drivers, Cannons Lane was blocked at one point Wednesday evening because of a water main break, creating yet another detour.

LMPD's Traffic Unit is handling the investigation into the crash.

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