AIRVILLE, Pa. — Four members of an Amish family died after their hired van was hit by a cement truck as they traveled home from a funeral in Central Pennsylvania.
The York County coroner’s office said the fourth victim, Elizabeth Esh, 22, was pronounced dead Tuesday, a day after she delivered a stillborn boy.
Her relatives, brothers Emmanuel Esh, 73, and Melvin Esh, 66, were pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck Monday afternoon in rural southeastern York County.
State police said the victims were passengers in a van, operated by 49-year-old Connie Lally, that turned into the path of a concrete truck driven by John Ehrhart, 60. The truck then struck a third vehicle, a sedan.
The Amish are a religious group that generally does not permit the ownership of automobiles or many other modern conveniences, instead traveling by horse and buggy.
They cannot have driver’s licenses, so they often hire vehicles driven by non-Amish for longer trips.
The coroner’s office said Emmanuel and Melvin Esh are related to Elizabeth Esh by marriage. Officials said after autopsies on Tuesday that the three adults died from multiple blunt-force trauma. They said more testing was needed to determine the child’s cause of death.
Police said the van’s three other occupants were injured and some required hospital treatment. No information was available from police about the condition of
Ehrhart or the third vehicle’s driver.