Two children were killed and another was left critically injured after a passenger van struck two horse-drawn Amish buggies on a rural New York road Friday morning.
The devastating crash happened at about 9:16 a.m. on Sept. 25 at the intersection of County Route 41 and Manwaring Road in the town of Richland, according to New York State Police.
Investigators said a 2017 Dodge passenger van driven by 47-year-old Terri M. Russell of Sandy Creek was heading south on County Route 41 when it struck two buggies traveling south in the same direction.
Nine people were riding in the two buggies at the time.
One buggy was carrying four people, while the second had five occupants, police said.
A 7-year-old and a 13-year-old riding in the first buggy were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have not publicly released their names.
A 9-year-old child riding in the second buggy suffered critical injuries and was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse for treatment. Police had not released an updated condition for the child as of the latest reports.
Police have not said whether any of the other six buggy occupants suffered injuries.
Investigators also have not disclosed what caused the van to strike the buggies or whether factors such as speed, visibility or distraction played a role.
No charges against Russell had been announced in the available reports, and State Police stressed that their investigation remained ongoing.
Richland is a rural community in northern Oswego County, roughly 40 miles north of Syracuse and east of Lake Ontario. Horse-drawn buggies are a familiar sight in parts of rural upstate New York where Amish families live and travel.
The tragedy also underscores the risks faced when much slower horse-drawn vehicles share rural highways with cars and trucks.
New York’s statewide highway safety plan specifically identifies Amish residents who rely on horse-drawn buggies as vulnerable road users in portions of northern New York. State transportation officials have said motorists need to use additional caution when sharing roads with buggies and other horse-drawn equipment.
Serious buggy crashes are not unprecedented in the state.
In June 2025, New York State Police said a Dodge Challenger struck a horse-drawn buggy traveling along County Route 3 in the town of Clayton. Three people were thrown from that buggy, including children ages 4 and 5 who were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Another collision in nearby Oswego County in July 2024 left two buggy occupants critically injured after a minivan attempting to pass struck the rear portion of their buggy in the town of Mexico.
Those earlier cases involved different circumstances and have not been linked to Friday’s fatal crash.
For now, investigators have released few details about what happened in the moments before the Richland collision.
New York State Police said additional information will be released as the investigation develops.
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