State Police are investigating a fatal crash on the Thruway that closed down a portion of westbound traffic for about 12 hours. YNN's Kaitlyn Lionti tells us more about the incident that killed one person and sent another to the hospital.

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State Police say a cargo van was either slowing or stopped in the driving lane when it was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer hauling aluminum cylinders.

They say the cargo van did not have any lights on at the time of the collision, so the driver of the tractor-trailer did not see it until just before the incident.

State Police say both vehicles overturned and the driver of the cargo van ended up partially pinned under the van.

"Trooper arrived on scene, he discovered the driver of one of the vehicles was partially ejected and had suffered traumatic injuries, he attempted to provide first aid to the driver, unfortunately, he died at the scene," said Sgt. Derrick Harris of the New York State Police.

Paramedics say the deceased driver of the cargo van was a 36-year-old man. They say the driver of the tractor-trailer was taken to Erie County Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Following the crash, both westbound lanes on the 90 were closed for about two hours and one lane reopened, but the other remained closed until late Thursday morning.

Harris says the closure allowed authorities to investigate the crash and clean up the scene.

"Our collision reconstruction unit they respond to the scene and they accurately measure the scene and they determine based upon scientific analysis as to what caused the accident and weather conditions and road conditions at the time of the accident," said Harris.

The identities of the drivers are not being released at this time.