Toddler lone survivor after Wisconsin crash kills 9, including 7 Amish community members
A toddler is the lone survivor following a deadly crash in Wisconsin between a van and tractor-trailer that left nine people dead, including seven members of an Amish community, according to reports.
The crash happened Friday on Highway 95 in western Wisconsin, southeast of Eau Claire, the Clark County Sheriff's Office said.
A 2-year-old boy survived after he was thrown from the van and rescued by a good Samaritan who witnessed the vehicle turn into the path of the semi-truck at an intersection, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
"I think God put me there for a reason," Nathaniel Jahn told the newspaper of being able to save the child.
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However, Jahn said he was unable to help any others after the van burst into flames.
Both drivers and seven passengers in the van were killed, the sheriff’s office said.
Nearly all the victims in the van were from an Amish community in rural Burke’s Garden, Virginia, FOX9 Minneapolis reported. The community said the victims ranged in age from six months old to 44 years old.
Those killed in the crash included the surviving child’s baby sister, both of his parents, his grandmother and two aunts, according to the station. The van driver was identified as a 45-year-old man from Pounding Mill, Virginia.
Gov. Tony Evers addressed the situation in a post on social media.
"Kathy and I are saddened today by the fatal crash that occurred in Clark County, tragically taking nine lives," Evers wrote. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of all those involved, as well as the first responders who worked quickly to provide support at the scene."