A young Amish girl, aged nine, from Pennsylvania, met a tragic end after she was fatally injured by a frightened horse on a farm in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County. The unfortunate event unfolded on the morning of Tuesday, June 25, 2024, leaving the local community in a state of shock.
The name of the victim has not been released. She was reportedly training the horse when the incident happened. “She had a lead wrapped around her wrist when the horse became spooked and took off, dragging her about a quarter of a mile,” reported Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, the Lancaster County Coroner.
Following the incident, the girl was transported to Lancaster General Hospital. “She later died from multiple traumatic injuries,” Diamantoni confirmed. The official cause of death, as determined by the coroner’s office, was multiple traumatic injuries, and the incident was classified as an accident.
This tragedy marks the second farm-related fatality involving a young member of the Amish community in Lancaster County for the month of June. Earlier in the month, on June 3, a barn accident claimed the life of a three-year-old boy in Christiana when he came into contact with ventilation machinery.
As per a report by Lancaster Newspapers/LancasterOnline, Lancaster County leads Pennsylvania in the number of farm-related fatalities, with children often being the victims. Since the start of the millennium, the county has witnessed between one and seven such deaths each year, with children being the majority of victims.
Furthermore, the report highlighted that, in the period from 2016 onwards, children aged five or younger accounted for 13 out of the 25 farm-related deaths covered by Lancaster newspapers. Teenagers and young children made up an additional six fatalities.
As authorities continue their investigation into the recent tragedy, the community of Lancaster County is expected to rally in support of the bereaved family and to pay tribute to the young Amish girl who lost her life unexpectedly.