RACINE, Minn. — Police in southeastern Minnesota said a fatal crash involving a vehicle and an Amish buggy took the lives of two young children, and injured two more of their siblings.
Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge said the two-wheeled horse-drawn buggy was carrying the four kids, who ranged in age from 7 to 13 years old, when an SUV driven by a 35-year-old woman from Spring Valley collided with them on County Road 1, in Sumner Township, about six miles from Racine.
The 7-year-old, identified by the sheriff as Wilma Miller, and the 11-year-old sibling, identified as Irma Miller, were killed in the crash. Their siblings, a 9-year-old and a 13-year-old, were taken to St. Mary's Hospital-Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The siblings lived in rural Stewartville, Minnesota.
Country Road 1 remained closed for hours while the crash was reconstructed and cleaned up. DeGeorge said no one was arrested as of Tuesday afternoon as an investigation into the crash continues.
If you are looking to support the family, a GoFundMe has been posted at this link. By Thursday morning, more than $64,000 had been raised by nearly 1,000 people.
Fillmore County locals say Amish horses and buggies on the road are a normal sight in the area, and the crash highlights a growing problem of drivers not paying enough attention to their surroundings, according to KAAL-TV.
“They’re our neighbors and if they’re on the road, they are coming to do business with us. We just have to watch out, drive slowly,” Spring Valley resident Julie Broadwater told the broadcast outlet. “Highway 1 is a curvy road; a lot of areas are no passing zones.”
Sumner Township is just over 18 miles southeast of Rochester.
KARE 11 is following this story and will update with the latest developments.
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