Boy, 2, Is Sole Survivor of Wisconsin Crash That Killed 9

Van, semi collide in rural Wisconsin
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 12, 2024 2:30 AM CDT
2-Year-Old Is Sole Survivor of Wisconsin Crash That Killed 9
The scene of a fatal crash, Friday, March 8, 2024 in Dewhurst, Wis.   (KMSP-TV via AP)

A devastating crash in Wisconsin's Clark County killed nine people, leaving a 2-year-old boy as the sole survivor. The toddler was among nine occupants of a van that was traveling north on a rural roadway as a semi traveled east on a highway. Both vehicles were approaching the intersection where the two roadways crossed. "The van was going northbound and there was a stop sign there," a sheriff's deputy tells the AP. "The semi was going east and the van pulled right out in front of the semi." A man who was on his way to work and saw the crash says he couldn't believe the van pulled into the semi's path. He got out of his car and ran to help, eventually finding the 2-year-old boy and pulling him away from the burning wreckage.

The eight other passengers of the van were members of two different families from an Amish community in Virginia, and the driver was a man who offered trips for Amish people, CBS News reports. The victims were mostly young adults, and a 6-month-old was killed along with her parents. The driver of the semi also died. A family friend, who was driving with the 2-year-old's grandparents from Virginia to pick the child up, tells WTMJ the boy "was surprisingly not harmed. But he's missing his mom. You can imagine just how hard that's going to be." (More Wisconsin stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X