A hayride turned tragic when the tractor and wagon crashed on the New York and Pennsylvania state line.
Twenty young members of a German Baptist congregation in Ridgebury, Pennsylvania, went out on the hayride after services concluded on Sunday, The New York Times reported.
They ranged in age from 4 to 19. The wagon was filled with hay bales and was connected to a John Deere tractor driven by a 16-year-old.
Chemung County, New York, Sheriff Bill Schrom said that outside the village of Wellsburg, New York, the brakes were smoking and the driver “seemed to be struggling with some mechanical issues.”
Five of those in the wagon jumped when they realized there was a problem.
About a mile later, and at the bottom of a hill, the tractor did not stop at the stop sign at T in the road.
The hitch snapped, and the passengers in the wagon went flying, Schrom said.
The tractor slid and rolled several times, pinning the driver and dragging him before it hit a tree.
He was flown from the scene to a nearby hospital, where he was in critical condition. The New York Times and ABC News said 10 people were hurt and were treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
A preliminary investigation said there was discoloration on the tractor’s brakes, WENY reported. Officials said the crash appears to be either a brake failure or a mechanical issue.
“Looking at the right side of the brake, it appeared to be discolored, definitely overheated from going down the hill,” Investigator Dalton Lawson said. “Left side of the brake didn’t appear to have that. So, at this point in the investigation, it appears to be a brake failure or some type of mechanical issue.”
©2026 Cox Media Group
