ALGANSEE TOWNSHIP, Michigan—Authorities say a pickup truck rear-ended an Amish horse-drawn carriage in southern Michigan, killing two children and seriously injuring two others and a woman who were in the carriage.
The state police say the two adults and five children who were in the carriage were ejected when the truck hit it Friday night in Algansee Township, a small farming community not far from Michigan’s borders with Indiana and Ohio.
The children who were killed were 6 and 2 years old. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities say two other children, ages 3 and 4, were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and that a woman also suffered serious injuries.
Drunk Driving
Almost 30 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes every day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Alcohol severely affects drivers, the administration noted. "Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination. All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely," it stated.
"Driving after drinking is deadly. Yet it still continues to happen across the United States. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse—be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death," the administration added.
‘Pray for This County’
A Mississippi sheriff is asking for prayers for his community after two wrecks claimed 11 lives in his mostly rural county this week.
Kemper County Sheriff James Moore described the scene of the wreck as “chaos.” It happened Wednesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 45 south of Scooba.
A Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Andy West, said a southbound vehicle crossed the highway median and hit three northbound vehicles. A photo from the Macon Beacon newspaper, provided to The Associated Press, showed a white pickup truck with the front crushed and the top ripped back. A photo from the Meridian Star showed two other vehicles that were crushed in the front.
Moore said the bus came from the city of Meridian, which is south of the wreck site.
Scooba, with a population of about 695, is near the Alabama state line.
A wreck before dawn Monday killed eight people on Mississippi Highway 16 east of Scooba. That one involved a box truck and a passenger van.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it’s sending an investigator to look into technology on the 2020 International Harvester Corp. Box Truck and any potential contributing factors.
Weather isn’t believed to have contributed to the Monday wreck.
West said the eight men killed Monday were Guillermo Lugo, Francisco Lugo, David Lugo, Luis Lugo, Macario Peregrino, Jose Maldonedo, Arnulfo Martinez and Jose Barrera. The Lugos were brothers. All the victims lived in Macon, Mississippi.
Both drivers survived the Monday wreck. The van driver was Alejandro Resendiz, also of Macon. The truck driver was Steven McKinney of Good Hope, Alabama.