State police are investigating a one-vehicle accident that claimed the lives of the driver and passenger early Monday morning on Interstate 80 in Venango County.

The accident occurred around 4:30 a.m. at mile marker 33 in Clinton Township, police said.

The sport-utility vehicle caught fire after striking a structural pillar supporting the Route 208 bridge overpass, said Brayden Rea, assistant chief of the Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department.

“We found a car partially blocking the entire right-hand lane, fully involved with fire. There was heavy front-end damage,” Rea said.

Guard rails around the pillar had been removed due to a construction project on I-80, he said.

“We worked to extinguish the fire, then we discovered two deceased victims in the car,” Rea said.

He said the male and female victims were wearing seat belts.

Route 208 also was closed because of the fire under the overpass.

“Since there was a fire underneath the bridge, we had to close that bridge until a structural engineer from PennDOT showed up to confirm the bridge was not compromised,” Rae said.

He said the fire department cleared the scene around 10 a.m. No firefighters were injured, he added.

The Venango County coroner’s office also responded to the accident.