GRAND ISLAND, NE — A California man is dead after authorities say he was hit by a passing vehicle while trying to help a person involved in a crash.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to an accident just west of the Highway 281 exit on Interstate 80 around 2:45 Thursday morning. According to a preliminary investigation, a pickup pulling a U-Haul trailer was traveling eastbound when it was hit from behind by a semi-truck driven by Yelena Coop. 47-year-old Hector Stanley Duque got out of the passenger’s seat of the pickup and tried to help the driver, Salvador Duquemoreno. The Sheriff’s Office says Duque was hit by a passing vehicle and died at the scene.

An accident reconstruction team, the Nebraska State Patrol, Grand Island Fire Department and the Grand Island Rural Fire Department all assisted at the scene.

The interstate was closed until shortly after 7:00 a.m. The investigation remains open.