Tractor pulling wooden cart filled with dried hay bales for fall harvest hayrides. Haystack
(NewsNation) — At least 20 people were hurt, three critically, after a tractor pulling a wagon overturned in southern New York.
Police say the tractor was towing a wagon with 19 passengers, most of whom were children, in Wellsburg, a village about an hour south of Ithaca along the Pennsylvania border.
The crash was reported around 4:38 p.m. on Sunday. Police say the tractor was traveling at a high rate of speed down Comfort Hill Road toward the Berwick Turnpike when the tractor driver attempted an evasive move, causing the wagon to disconnect.
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The tractor flipped over and pinned the driver underneath, dragging him for several yards before stopping against a tree. The wagon continued on a short distance before coming to a halt.
“We have about 19 confirmed persons that were on the wagon,” Chemung County Sheriff William Schrom told NewsNation affiliate WETM. “14 of those were treated on scene and signed off and/or self-transported to area hospitals. Five were transported via ambulance, and I believe one was airlifted from the scene.”
The group is from a German Baptist community which holds a gathering every Sunday.