A hayride packed with children flipped in Wellsburg, New York, leaving three people critically injured after a tractor lost control coming down a hill Sunday.
Emergency crews raced to the scene at 4:30 p.m. after a tractor towing a hay wagon with 19 people careened off at a junction, rolled, and threw passengers from the wagon. Many of those aboard were children from a German Baptist community youth gathering after Sunday church services.
The US Sun reported that 14 people were hurt, 13 were rushed to hospitals, three were believed to be in critical condition, and one person was airlifted. Chemung County Sheriff Bill Shrom said a probe is underway.
The crash hit a quiet rural stretch in Chemung County, in New York’s Southern Tier. The wagon was part of an afternoon loop after services. Members planned to head down the hill, turn, and return to where they started.
Sheriff Shrom described the sequence. The tractor was speeding toward the intersection. The driver tried to turn right, spun the wheel, and the tractor rolled over and came free of the wagon. The wagon continued on, then crashed, hurling people out.
Local station WETM reported the driver was trapped under the tractor and dragged about 150 feet before the machine smashed into a tree. Belongings ended up scattered across a driveway.
Shrom pointed to equipment trouble found so far.
"We do know at least one of the brakes on one of the sides of the tractor was significantly burnt up."
He also described how the group lost control on the descent.
"Several of the members were on their way down the hill and were going to do a loop to go back where they started from, and, of course, they lost control coming down the hill."
Wellsburg resident Jeremy Brent said he grew concerned after spotting a helicopter. He later described the scene to local reporters.
"Most of them were kids and their belongings were all over the driveway."
Brent added another plain reaction to what he saw.
"I've never seen anything like that in my life."
Rochester First reported three people were believed to be fighting for their lives. Officials have not publicly named the injured, listed ages, or said which hospitals took the 13 patients or the airlifted victim. The driver’s name and condition also were not released.
Shrom’s account ties the wreck to speed into the junction, a failed right turn, the rollover and detachment, and at least one badly burnt brake on the tractor. Investigators have not announced charges, citations, or a final cause. Ownership of the tractor and wagon was not detailed in initial reports.
The German Baptist group meets every Sunday. The hayride was an afternoon youth gathering after services, an ordinary church-community outing that ended with people thrown from a wagon and a driver pinned under heavy machinery.
Fourteen hurt. Thirteen in hospitals. Three critical. One flown out. A hillside turn that did not hold. Families and first responders are left waiting on hard answers from the sheriff’s probe, answers that should come without delay when children are among the wounded.
