By The Associated Press

AUBURN — Three people were killed and three others hurt Wednesday when the driver of a semitrailer failed to slow for congested traffic and slammed into several vehicles on a northeastern Indiana highway.

The 70-year-old truck driver from Angola, Indiana, rear-ended a GMC SUV, a Ford SUV and a passenger car about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday on northbound Interstate 69, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of the Auburn exit, according to the state police.

Two adults who had to be extricated from the GMC later died at a hospital. Three others in the SUV were hurt.

A man driving a Mazda was killed when his car was pushed into the rear of a second semitrailer.

Two other vehicles avoided direct impact with the first semitrailer and swerved off the roadway which was backed up due to construction work.

A plainclothes state police detective came upon the crash as it happened and quickly requested paramedics, rescue personnel and a medical helicopter to the scene, state police said.

The freeway’s northbound lanes were shut down for more than five hours after the crash. The southbound lanes were shut down or slowed to traffic for several hours.

The crash was under investigation.

Auburn is north of Fort Wayne and south of the state line with Michigan.