Eight injured, including six inmates, in Miami County crash
BUNKER HILL, Ind. (WISH) — Police said a car and a passenger van containing inmates collided in Miami County on Tuesday morning, sending one man to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Indiana State Police said 41-year-old Zackariah Birdgsong was driving westbound on County Road 800 South near Angling Road when he crossed the center line around 7:30 a.m. His vehicle and a passenger van, driven by 49-year-old Tracy Hullett, collided head-on.
Birdsong was flown to a Fort Wayne hospital with life-threatening injuries. Hulett was taken by ambulance to a Peru hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Hulett’s vehicle was an Indiana Department of Natural Resources van carrying a Department of Correction Crew. Six of the nine inmates on the van were transported to hospitals.
Two inmates, 61-year-old Norman Clark and 40-year-old Joshua Kochell were flown to a Fort Wayne hospital with severe injuries. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening.
31-year-old Shannon Reynolds, 46-year-old Michael Buettgenbauch, 59-year-old Purcell Turner, Jr., and 60-year-old Kevin Mullin were sent to a Kokomo hospital by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.
Drugs and alcohol are not considered factors in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.