UPDATED 7:25 P.M.

Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) -Two people are dead after a crash on Interstate 55 near Springfield.

That’s according to Illinois State Police. Troopers responded to the crash near the I-72 split at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday. A passenger vehicle struck the rear of what was described as a “a truck tractor semi-trailer.”

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon says the victims are a 37-year-old woman from Riverton, and her 8-year-old daughter. Names are not being released pending notification of next of kin. Allmon says preliminary autopsy results show both died from blunt force trauma injuries.

State Troopers say southbound I-55 in the area of the I-72 split was closed for the better part of six hours before being opened again, with traffic being diverted off the interstate at Stevenson Drive.

An investigation into the crash continues.