Three people died Tuesday morning when a small plane crashed and burst into flames on Interstate 55 in central Illinois, state police said.

Mindy Carroll of the Illinois State Police said in a statement that all three occupants of the plane were killed in the crash in Lincoln at about 8:49 a.m. The National Transportation Safety Board described the aircraft as a single-engine Cessna 172.

Authorities have not described what caused the crash. The NTSB said it is investigating. The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified and is responding to the scene.

The Logan County Coroner’s office was dispatched to the scene.

Police said multiple law enforcement agencies responded and that I-55 would remain closed to traffic for several hours.

Lincoln is about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

(AP)