Merle Hay Road crash between car, semi

A semi-truck crashed into a small sedan near the 3800 block of Merle Hay Road in Des Moines Friday morning, killing one person and injuring another.

According to a Des Moines Police Department tweet posted at 8:32 a.m., officers responded to the scene of a crash that involved "serious injury." Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesperson for the department, later told the Des Moines Register that an adult male died at the scene and another person was taken to the hospital.

As Des Moines police investigators worked at the crash scene, the southbound lanes of Merle Hay Road were closed at Madison Avenue. The road was opened to traffic as of 12:45 p.m., the department posted on Twitter.

Images from the scene show a yellow semi-truck diagonally cutting across the southbound lane of Merle Hay Road while a silver sedan appears damaged off to the side. The front of the truck appears to have crashed and knocked down a utility pole.

The Des Moines Police Department is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.

This story will be updated.

Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at@francescablock3.