Staff reports

A 15-year-old youth was flown to an Indianapolis hospital Tuesday morning after he sustained serious injuries in a wreck involving a box truck driven by his uncle on Interstate 65 north of Jonesville, police report.

Kong Pheng Xiong, 15, of Hickory, North Carolina, was treated at the scene near the 58-mile-marker before being flown by StatFlight helicopter to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, according to a report from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles.

Wheeles, public information officer for the Indiana State Police Versailles Post, said Xiong was a passenger in a 2016 International box truck being driven northbound on I-65 by Chue Xiong, 55, of Claremont, North Carolina. Chue is believed to be Kong Xiong’s uncle, police said.

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For an unknown reason, Xiong’s vehicle ran off of the right side of the road, Wheeles said.

Evidence indicates Xiong overcorrected, causing the vehicle to roll onto its passenger side before sliding into the median, according to the investigation conducted by Trooper Seth Davidson.

During the collision, the load of cut bamboo Xiong was hauling was released from the truck into the median.

As a result of the crash, Chue Xiong sustained minor scrapes. He was treated at the scene for his injuries, Davidson said.

The Bartholomew County Health Department responded to the scene and determined the load of bamboo shoots, which was being taken from North Carolina to Minnesota, needed to be destroyed.

Crews were on scene for nearly five hours for the crash investigation and cleanup. I-65 northbound traffic was stopped initially due to the medical helicopter landing on the northbound lanes of I-65.

The investigation is ongoing. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the crash, which reported shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Troopers were assisted by officers with the Bartholomew County and Jackson County sheriff’s departments and personnel Jackson County Emergency Medical Services and Columbus Regional EMS, Southwest Fire Department, StatFlight and 31 Wrecker Service.