8-year-old killed when truck strikes horse-drawn carriage

(AP) An 8-year-old boy is dead and four others are hospitalized after a horse-drawn carriage carrying a Mennonite family was struck from behind by a pickup truck in Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the accident happened around 6:45 a.m. Thursday in a remote area of St. Francois County, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Patrol Cpl. Juston Wheetley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the family was on its way to pick blueberries at a farm near the crash site when a truck driven by a 19-year-old man struck the rear of the buggy.

The boy died at the scene. Two children, ages 10 and 12, were flown to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Two adults in the carriage, ages 50 and 28, were also seriously hurt.