One person died in Orange County along Interstate 40 early on Tuesday morning as they were struck by another driver outside their vehicle while attending to a flat tire.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, which shared a release about the incident several hours later, troopers responded to a report of a crash at 4:38 a.m. along I-40 near the exchange with North Carolina Highway 86, which is north of Chapel Hill. Investigators say a white passenger vehicle was disabled from a flat tire, with the driver partially parked in the eastbound lane of I-40. The driver was attempting to change the flat on the left side of their car — and an SUV traveling east on the interstate struck the person in the roadway.

The release said the driver of the disable vehicle died on-scene, while the driver of the SUV was uninjured and remained on-scene until authorities arrived. No identifying information has been publicly shared about either drivers as of Tuesday at 12 p.m.

In its release, the State Highway Patrol did not yet announce any charges in the collision, and said the incident remains under investigation. Eastbound I-40 was closed for roughly two hours during the emergency response and initial investigation, with troopers reopening the scene to normal traffic at 7:10 a.m.

Featured photo via AP Photo/Skip Foreman.

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