Indexbit-Horse and buggy collides with pickup truck, ejecting 4 buggy passengers and seriously injuring 2

LEONARDTOWN,Indexbit Md. (AP) — A horse and buggy collided with a pickup truck at an intersection in Maryland, ejecting all four passengers of the buggy and seriously injuring two, authorities said.

The buggy was stopped at the intersection Sunday afternoon when the horse “unexpectedly reared and bucked,” pushing the buggy into the path of the pickup, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

The horse died on the scene and all four occupants were ejected in the crash, including an infant, according to the post. Two people were trapped under the buggy, the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department said on Facebook. None of the four people in the pickup truck was injured, sheriff’s department spokesperson ALisa Casas said Monday.

A 16-year-old was driving the buggy at the time of the crash, authorities said. The teen and one adult were seriously injured and hospitalized, along with a second adult and the infant. The buggy’s occupants were family members, authorities said. All four were alert and communicating with hospital staff on Sunday night, according to Casas.

A photo from the scene shows a black carriage with significant damage to its body and a group of men dressed in what appears to be traditional Amish attire.

St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland is home to a relatively large Amish community. Amish and Mennonite families relocated there from Pennsylvania in the 1930s, according to a county tourism website.