Three children and one adult died and six children were injured when the tractor-hauled trailer they were riding in at a York County campground crashed, authorities said.
The man driving the tractor lost control, went off the road and flipped around around 11:15 a.m. at the Otter Creek campground along Route 425 in Lower Chanceford Township, according to PennDOT spokeswoman Fritzi Schreffler. The tractor was traveling on the road in the 1100 block of Furnace Road when the crash occurred, police said.
Twelve individuals were riding in the trailer when the operator of the tractor traveled off the roadway and over an embankment, causing the tractor and trailer to roll, killing an adult woman and three juveniles, police said. The tractor driver was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said.
Schreffler said it’s unclear what caused the man to lose control of the tractor and careen off the road. PennDOT’s original report on this crash incorrectly said an Amish horse-and-buggy was involved.
Adam Reed, a spokesman for the state police, said three children were transported by helicopter to hospitals, and the others by road ambulance. The extent of injuries varied among the children, Reed said at a 2:30 p.m. news conference.
State police sent their criminal investigation unit, collision and reconstruction unit and forensic services unit to collect evidence and try to determine how the crash transpired, Reed said.
The tractor involved was an “older model” pulling a utility type, flatbed, trailer with two feet of “fencing” around it, Reed said. He described it as an “open trailer.”
The identities of the children who died were not immediately available. Some of the children likely were related, Reed said, but they were still working with families to determine that.
Route 425 is closed Friday afternoon between Indian Steps Road and Lower River Road.
Editor’s Note: This article originally said 4 kids died, based on information from PennDOT, but state police have since confirmed 3 children, 1 adult died.
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