Amish Mourn 5 Children Killed by a Car on a Country Road

Amish from as far away as Colorado gathered Saturday for the funerals today of five children struck by a car as they walked along a country road.

“Their time was up,” said Mose Keim, one of the mourners. “I don’t think any of us fully comprehend it. It’s going to be that way as soon as they come for the funeral. Then it’s going to hit.”

The Amish community filled tables with food and coffee, preparing for about 1,500 friends and relatives from across the country.

Wayne County deputy sheriffs were out to slow traffic as many of the Amish walked to the accident site. Men and boys in black hats and dark-blue clothing walked apart from the women and girls in black dresses and white bonnets.

Eric Bache, 18, of Millersburg was charged with five felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide in the Thursday incident.

In addition to the dead, ages 2 to 14, three children were in serious condition Saturday at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Akron. Two others were treated for minor injuries but were not hospitalized.

The children were walking home from a birthday party.

“I watched them go up the lane, then I forgot about them until I heard tires screeching,” said Sara Swartzentruber, hostess of the party. “When I looked, I saw the red car. It was on two wheels. . . . The next thing I knew, the red car came at the kids, and they just flew like chickens.”

Fredericksburg is about 60 miles south of Cleveland.