ALLEGHENY TWP — A truck driver hauling crushed corn feed was killed early this morning when he rear-ended another tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 in this northern Butler County township near the Venango County line.

It took rescuers 20 minutes to remove numerous 50-pound bags of seed that buried the victim after crashing through his trailer in the wreck about 1:20 a.m., authorities said.

The state Department of Transportation later had to call in a snow plow to remove a thick blanket of corn feed that covered both eastbound lanes.

The highway was closed for about four hours.

Mark G. Ohman, 53, of Waymart, Wayne County, was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was not available this morning,

Police said Ohman’s eastbound rig struck the back of a tractor-trailer that Donette Beard, 45, of Greenville, Mercer County, was driving.

The crash split open the back of Beard’s rig, spilling auto parts it was carrying onto the highway, said Barry Louise, assistant fire chief for the Emlenton Volunteer Fire Department.

Louise said the impact of the collision sent the bags of crushed corn feed through the front of Ohman’s trailer and tore off the cab.