Van carrying Amish crashes, killing 5

[proud2BlibKansan]

Source: Kansas City Star

Van carrying Amish crashes, killing 5
By KEN KUSMER
Associated Press Writer

A van carrying Amish on an interstate highway veered out of control, overturned and ejected most of its passengers Sunday, killing five people and injuring 11, authorities said.

Two adults and three children were killed when the southbound van veered onto the grassy median, flipped over and came to rest in the northbound lanes of the highway about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis, State Police Sgt. Rod Russell said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash, he said.

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It was not clear at first how many people had been riding in the van, as survivors gave conflicting stories of 15, 16 or even 17 passengers. That led police and other responders to search for additional injured people until it became clear all people in the van were accounted for.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/327036.html

[NoGodsNoMasters]

1. What I'm curious about...

...is why they were in a van to begin with? Doesn't that conflict with.......being AMISH???

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Yeah it doesn't really explain that

from the article: "Amish people generally shun modern conveniences but sometimes enlist non-Amish as drivers."

[DRoseDARs]

4. That was my first guess, that they utilized a non-Amish driver. nt

[moonbatmax]

3. You Would Have to Ask Them...

...but I believe some sort of allowances are accepted. I've seen Amish in this area (just a few hundred miles north of Indy, actually) come around in trucks. I think they simply get a ride from non-Amish friends.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[yellowcanine]

12. Amish can ride in vehicles they just can't own them. Lots of people make a living hauling

Amish. Unfortunately, just like everything else, there are people who don't pay attention to basic safety standards. It sounds as if that may have happened here.

[kestrel91316]

19. Not in the least. Amish do not OWN cars. They have no prohibition

whatsoever against riding in them. Except Beachy Amish who, unlike Old Order Amish, can have cars - but back in the day of chrome bumpers they had to paint their bumpers black (no shiny allowed) and the cars were all black.

There are folks in Amish country who make a good living in the van transport business. Amish use buses and trains, too. Airplanes, they RARELY use.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Police: Tire failure may have caused van crash

Police: Tire failure may have caused van crash
Associated Press - October 22, 2007 3:53 AM ET

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana State Police say a tire failure may have triggered a van crash yesterday that killed five people.

At least some of the victims came from an Amish community in the Fort Wayne area.

Three children and two adults died when the van went out of control on an interstate northeast of Indianapolis and flipped over in the median. Eleven people were hurt in the wreck. Some victims were thrown clear of the wreckage.

Traffic in both directions of Interstate 69 was halted as medical helicopters landed at the scene.

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=7245120&nav=menu25_2

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. How tragic

[Locrian]

7. not much info but video link

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/10706771.html

[soothsayer]

8. I saw an Amish woman talking on a cellphone at the horse auction.

I guess I don't understand today's Amish. But I'm sorry a bunch of 'em got killed. Usually you just hear about their horse carts getting run off the road or smashed into by by cars (which is also awful).

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. She might be Mennonite

Their dress is sometimes indistinguishable from Amish, but they are often not as restrictive in their use of modern conveniences.

[TommyO]

11. Are you sure she was Amish?

More likely she was Mennonite given the use of technology.

[yellowcanine]

13. Amish practices vary from one community to the next. Some do allow cell phones, yes.

And Amish are like everyone else, some people bend the rules. I have noticed that cell phones seem to be one of the things that is "slipping through the cracks" in some Amish communities.

[CountAllVotes]

14. yeah they love cell phones, ipods, computers

and puppy mills too!

So much for those "horse & buggy days".

[yellowcanine]

15. I think that is a bit harsh. The Amish should not be be put on a pedestal - they

are human like everyone else. But neither should they be denigrated. They do have many redeeming qualities as a group - one of which was demonstrated by their forgiving attitude toward the perpretrator of the killings at Nickel Mines last year - and the way they reached out to his wife and family. And for the most part, they do not use cell phones, ipods, or computers. My observations were the exception. The puppy mills are a particular blind spot in some Amish communities and cannot be defended except to say that they are not unique to the Amish and it is unfair to equate them with the Amish. Besides, if pet shops, other pet wholesale middlemen and the public would not buy from puppy mills most of the problem would go away quickly.

[CountAllVotes]

16. no .........

If the auctions run by the Amish went away, then the puppy mills MIGHT go away.

The Amish are not entirely responsible for this problem but they sure are helping to keep it going.

[yellowcanine]

17. The auctions are part and parcel of the puppy mills. I am talking about the BUYERS at the

auctions as well as the buyers who go directly to the farms. No buyers = no auctions = no puppy mills. The Amish aren't going to produce something if there isn't a market for it.

[CountAllVotes]

18. stop the auctions

then there is nothing to "buy".

[yellowcanine]

20. That would be true if auctions were the only way to buy. They aren't.

Buyers can and do go directly to the farms. Take away the buyers, though, and there will be no sale. No sale and there is no longer an incentive to raise the puppies.

[kestrel91316]

22. Hmmm. Paint with a broad brush much???

[Hoondraskneltinsky]

23. It'a all based upon what the local leader and elders allow. N/T

.

[kestrel91316]

21. Members of the Amish church do not use cell phones, IIRC.

I hear MANY of the teens have them - the prohibition only applies to members, and they don't typically join up until their late teens or early twenties, after rumspringa.

[EstimatedProphet]

24. As it happens, they were the farmers that ran our milk share

Heartbreaking.