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Four injured after buggy hit by vehicle

T-L Photo/JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH A Chrysler Town & Country is loaded on a wrecker by an employee of Bill’s Towing after it struck the rear of a horse-drawn Amish buggy on Monday evening. Four occupants of the buggy were transported to hospitals in Wheeling.

BARNESVILLE — Four occupants of an Amish buggy were hospitalized Monday after a van struck their vehicle from behind.

Distracted driving appeared to be the cause of the crash, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Moran. He said the driver of the van, a Chrysler Town & Country, had been cited for failure to assure clear distance ahead.

He declined to release the names of anyone involved at the scene, but said additional information could become available later.

Moran did not know the extent of the buggy occupants’ injuries but said he would be visiting Wheeling Hospital, where three of them were taken, and Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, where one was taken, to check on their conditions. He said the three people in the van were not injured, although the van was hauled away from the scene by Bill’s Towing. It had significant front-end damage.

The crash occurred on Belmont County Road 102, also known as Sandy Ridge Road, southeast of Barnesville around 6:15 p.m. Monday. Moran said both vehicles were headed south when the driver of the van became distracted by something inside the vehicle and looked down, taking his attention away from the road ahead.

The van then struck the buggy from behind.

According to Moran, the team of two horses that had been pulling the buggy became separated from that vehicle during the collision and ran from the scene. They were found about 1.7 miles away near an open-air market on Ohio 148 where local Amish residents regularly hold produce auctions.

Moran said one of the horses had visible swelling when it was found, so a veterinarian was called to examine both animals. A local resident hauled the buggy away from the crash scene.

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