SIMSBORO - A state highway worker is dead after being struck by a semi-truck while performing road work Tuesday morning.

According to Louisiana State Police, the crash happened LA 563, just south of I-20 in Lincoln Parish.

The accident happened after a DOTD Freightliner truck was parked in the northbound lane as crews replaced a road sign. Police say Michael Moore, who was driving another 18-wheeler northbound, did not notice the stopped truck blocking the lane and rammed into the rear of it.

A DOTD worker who was standing behind the truck at the time, 50-year-old Johnny Cole, was pinned by the truck and pronounced dead at the scene.

Moore was not injured in the crash and was cited for careless operation. A toxicology sample was taken from him for analysis.

The crash remains under investigation.

It's the second deadly crash involving a road worker in less than a month. The last crash occurred as worker were finishing up overnight roadwork on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.