Driver dies when vehicle runs off Interstate 70, catches fire in Kansas City, Kansas

One person died in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Kansas Thursday, police said.

Officers were dispatched just after 1 a.m. to the area of eastbound I-70 near the 18th Street Expressway exit. According to a news release, police determined in an initial investigation that the driver was traveling east on I-70 when they drove off the side of the road.

The vehicle struck an object off the road, which caused it to catch fire, the news release said. Police did not say what the vehicle struck. The Kansas City Kansas Fire Department responded to the scene to put out the blaze.

Paramedics pronounced the driver dead at the scene.

Police have not yet given a gender or name for the crash victim. No other details about the crash were immediately available Thursday morning.

An investigation into the cause of the crash was ongoing Thursday. Anyone with information on this case is urged to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).