On Wednesday morning, February 14, a tragic accident on I-40 in Arkansas resulted in the deaths of two individuals after a semi-truck collided with an Arkansas Highway Police cruiser, causing the truck to catch fire.

The details: Occurring near mile marker 268 at the Jennette exit, the incident took place at approximately 9:40 AM, leading to significant traffic disruptions. An officer was injured in the crash and has since been hospitalized.

The impact: Following the collision, the semi-truck struck a guardrail, overturned, and became engulfed in flames, resulting in a four-mile backup along the eastbound lanes. As reported by FOX13 Memphis, the right lane was still closed to traffic as authorities worked on the scene into the afternoon.

• The officer whose vehicle was struck is a member of the Arkansas Department of Transportation's Highway Police Unit and was not reported to be seriously injured.

In response: Local emergency services and highway patrol responded to the emergency, while investigators are working to understand the full sequence of events that led to this fatal accident.

Closure updates and traffic advisories continue as the investigation progresses, and authorities work to clear the affected portion of I-40.