KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSHB) -- Crews have found the driver of a vehicle that went through the guardrail on northbound I-35 in Kansas City and crashed into the area below.
They were searching for him after he was ejected from his Ford Edge SUV.
KCPD said around 4:30 Wednesday morning, a witness saw the car driving fast on I-35 before veering to the right, sailing through the guardrail and immediately catching fire.
The vehicle left the roadway, just south of the Kauffman Center, and crashed at the bottom of an embankment.
The driver, whose 21st birthday is Wednesday, is alive. He has some injuries but refused to go to the hospital.
His license plates indicated he is from Mission, Kansas.
Responders shut down multiple lanes of the interstate at the crash location, right before where I-35 joins the downtown loop. Traffic quickly backed up south past the Crossroads district as rush hour picked up.
Crews towed the vehicle from the scene around 8:30 a.m.
.@41actionnews This is the burnt up SUV that caused all of the traffic on I-35 and Broadway. pic.twitter.com/Q1yD1U57Ou
— Nick Kastelan (@nickkastelan) October 18, 2017
KCPD said the driver will be ticketed for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
MoDOT will replace the guardrail at a later date.
All lanes were reopened as of about 9:15 Wednesday morning.
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