Six children hurt after vehicle hits Amish buggy in W. Michigan

Deerfield Township, Mich. — Six children were injured in a crash on the state's west side after a vehicle struck an Amish buggy carrying eight people, authorities said.

One of the children was critically injured, the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office said.

It is the second crash involving an auto and a horse-drawn Amish buggy in less than a month. 

The latest incident happened after 10 p.m. Wednesday on 5 Mile Road near 165th Avenue in Deerfield Township, south of Big Rapids in Mecosta County, police said.

A 10-year-old girl in the buggy was airlifted to Spectrum Health Butterworth in Grand Rapids with life-threatening injuries, WZZM-TV reported.

A 1-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 6-year-old girl also were hurt, according to the station.

The other five were also hospitalized and listed in fair condition.

The vehicle’s 63-year-old driver wasn’t injured.

Authorities say alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Sheriff's officials could not be reached Thursday for details on the status of the crash investigation or the condition of the crash victims, who were not identified.

The incident followed a similar crash reported last month more than two hours south, in Branch County’s Algansee Township, a small farming community near Michigan’s border with Indiana and home to Amish communities.

Authorities said an Amish horse-drawn carriage carrying seven people was rear-ended by a vehicle on June 7.

Police reported five children and their parents were ejected in the crash.

Two of the children, ages 6 and 2, were pronounced dead at the scene. A third, a 4-year-old, was hospitalized and later died from his injuries, Michigan State Police said. 

The mother and another child were seriously injured.

Beams Funeral Home of Fremont, Indiana, identified the three dead as 6-year-old Lillian Graber, 4-year-old Moses Graber and 2-year-old Jacob Graber.

Police allege that the pickup driver, 21-year-old Tyler Frye, of Angola, Indiana, was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Trooper Alan Fouty said at the time of the crash, Frey was coming back from a funeral viewing of a friend.

He was charged with drunken driving causing death and serious injury.