A driver was killed Wednesday morning after an Audi sedan crashed into the rear of a farm tractor on Manning Avenue in Fresno County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported about 8 a.m. on Manning Avenue, just east of Yuba Avenue. Initial callers reported a person was unresponsive inside a vehicle that had caught fire.

A preliminary investigation found a John Deere farm tractor was traveling westbound on Manning Avenue at a reduced speed along the right shoulder near the white roadway line when a westbound Audi approached from behind at a high rate of speed.

For reasons still under investigation, the Audi driver failed to avoid the slower-moving tractor and struck its left rear axle, CHP said.

The Audi overturned multiple times before coming to rest on its wheels along the south shoulder, where it became fully engulfed in flames, trapping the unresponsive driver inside. The Audi driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tractor driver suffered moderate to major injuries and was taken by ambulance to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment.

CHP said alcohol or drugs are not suspected to have been factors in the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

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