Story updated at 1:51 p.m. Thursday

The driver of a semitruck was seriously injured in a crash Wednesday afternoon on Kansas Highway 10 outside Eudora, and cleanup of diesel fuel was still underway Thursday.

Jeremiah W. Tindell, 39, of Wentworth, Mo., was taken to an Overland Park hospital with suspected serious injuries after the semitruck he was driving left the road for an unknown reason, according to a crash report from the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The semitruck was eastbound on K-10 at 3:49 p.m. Wednesday when it crossed through the grass median and into the westbound lanes of traffic, ran off the roadway to the left and then came to rest in a ditch just west of K-10’s Church Street exit, according to the KHP report.

Emergency radio traffic monitored by the Journal-World indicated that KHP troopers were still working at the crash site into the early hours of Thursday.

Tom Fagan, division chief of administration for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, said via email that while the truck was being moved back to the roadway by towing vehicles, both its fuel saddle tanks ruptured, spilling diesel fuel into the nearby dry creek.

“The fuel soaked into the creekbed’s dry ground, and a private contractor was called to remediate the soil and affected area,” Fagan said. “The contractor is on-site today, performing remediation.”

Tindell was wearing his seat belt, according to the crash report, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.