LITTLE ROCK—A semitruck driver crashed through a state highway department work zone Tuesday morning on a U.S. 67 bridge over the White River, killing himself and a worker there as flames engulfed his rig, officials said.

A northbound lane and both of the southbound lanes of the bridge, located near Ingleside, remained closed as state workers mourned their dead colleague and began the task of inspecting the fire damage. Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, said the lanes would remain closed until a thorough check had been carried out.

“We will make sure the bridge structure itself is safe and did not suffer damage in the fire before we reopen it,” Ort said.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said troopers routed traffic around the bridge on Arkansas 367. Sadler said he didn’t know how long it would take to clear the bridge of the charred remains of the trucks.

Ort identified the dead highway worker as Bruce Fick, 47, of Newark. Ort said Fick had worked for the highway department for 11 years and that his wife also works for the department.

The crash happened around 10:30 a.m., as a group of four state highway workers prepared to do maintenance and pressure-wash the deck of the bridge carrying the southbound lanes, Ort said. The workers had set up a series of tapered orange barrels or cones to mark the lane closure, as well as a large, flashing-arrow sign mounted on a trailer to warning oncoming traffic, Ort said.

At the time of the crash, three workers stood near the south end of the bridge, while Fick either stood by or was inside a state highway department truck. Ort said the driver of the semitruck either ignored or didn’t see the warning signs, slamming through the flashing-arrow sign and into the back of the department’s truck.