ALGANSEE TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB) – A woman was killed and six members of her family were injured Friday morning in a Branch County crash involving their buggy and a pickup truck.
The Branch County Sheriff’s Department has identified the fatal victim as 39-year-old Barbara Jo Schwartz of Reading, Michigan. She died after being taken by ambulance to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne.
They say a horse was pulling the family buggy east on Lester Road in Branch County’s Algansee Township when it was spooked by a passing pick up truck heading in the opposite direction at about 8:50 a.m. which was driven by a 29-year-old man from Reading.
The horse veered into the west bound lane and hit the dually fender of the pickup causing a married couple and five children in the buggy to be ejected.
Schwartz’s husband was not seriously injured and went with his wife to Parkview.
The five children in the buggy were between the ages of three months and seven years. They were taken to ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital by Lifecare Ambulance for non-life threatening injuries.
This accident remains under investigation. The Branch County Sheriff’s Office were assisted by Quincy Police, the Michigan State Police, firefighters from Quincy and Fremont, Indiana, Lifecare Ambulance, Steuben County EMS and the Branch County Road Commission.
