POCATELLO — A local man is dead and Interstate 15 southbound was shut down for several hours after a head-on crash involving a semi in Pocatello.

The crash occurred around 7:15 a.m. Thursday on the freeway’s southbound lanes just north of the Clark Street exit, authorities said.

Idaho State Police said the man who died was 69 years old and resided in Pocatello. But his name has not yet been released.

The crash occurred when the man was driving a 2002 Nissan Altima northbound on the freeway and for unknown reasons the car crossed through the median and entered the southbound lanes. The Nissan then collided head-on with a southbound 2023 Freightliner semi driven by a 39-year-old man from Utah.

State police said the 69-year-old man was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene. The Nissan was almost unrecognizable following the crash.

The semi’s driver, whose name wasn’t released, was wearing a seat belt and did not require hospitalization, authorities said.

The wreck shut down Interstate 15 southbound in Pocatello for nearly five hours.

Idaho State Police were assisted at the scene by Bannock County sheriff’s deputies, Pocatello police, Chubbuck police, the Pocatello Fire Department, Bannock County Search and Rescue and the Idaho Transportation Department.

The crash remains under investigation by Idaho State Police.