A man died in a traffic crash near downtown Houston early Thursday when a car struck his pickup truck, which had stopped in middle of the freeway after hitting a wall.

Police said the driver of a GMC pickup was northbound on the Gulf Freeway near Woodridge, traveling at a high rate of speed, when he lost control of the truck about 12:30 a.m. and hit a wall. The truck spun around and stopped in the middle of the freeway.

The driver got out of his truck to survey the damage. A witnesses who saw the wreck stopped to help him.

A motorist driving a Toyota Avalon then struck the stopped truck, knocking it into the truck driver and the witness.

The truck driver died. The witness and driver of the Avalon were taken to area hospital with minor injuries, police said.