Authorities say two people were killed when a van car crashed into a horse-drawn buggy in western Indiana.
The Parke County Sheriff’s Department says an Amish family of four was traveling along U.S. 36 in a horse-drawn buggy Saturday morning when it was struck from the rear by the van.
The Tribune-Star reports the impact near the community of Hollandsburg forced the buggy off the road, killing two of the four family members.
The two survivors were flown to Indianapolis hospitals, but their conditions weren’t immediately known.
The van’s driver, 66-year-old Steven Miller Ealy of Danville, Indiana, was not injured, and a veterinarian cared for the horse at the scene.
Buggy Crash Kills 3 Siblings, Injures 1
In a similar incident, three young siblings were killed and another was injured after a motor vehicle struck their horse-drawn buggy in Michigan on Sept. 18.The buggy was struck from behind on Vermontville Highway, near Bradley Road and Ainger Rd in Vermontville Township.
“I bawled all the way home,” said Kevin Newton, who often drives for the Amish and knew the victims. “They’ve got to do something, pass a law or something. They should have more signs out” warning drivers about buggies.
Jerri Nesbitt of the county sheriff’s office said the 6-year-old boy had a “good night,” despite leg and head injuries, and was in stable condition.
“It’s an unspeakable loss for any parent to lose their children in a manner like this,” Undersheriff Jeff Cook said.
"It's very difficult [for] all of our responders, deputies, EMS, witnesses [who were] at the scene—we all have children," Cook said of the tragic incident.
"It's difficult to measure the impact that this has on the families of these children ... we are doing our very best to conduct a full investigation and find out how this occurred and help the families involved," he added.
Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich said in a statement, according to MLive: "Our hearts and prayers go out to the parents, who are enduring such unimaginable loss and grief, and also to their extended family and close community ... We grieve with them."