Hundreds of Amish from as far away as Illinois arrived here Friday to console relatives of five Amish children who were struck and killed by a car while they walked home from a birthday party.
Several hundred Amish had traveled by car - the distance forcing them to abandon their usual horse-drawn buggies - to this community in the heart of Ohio's Amish country by late afternoon. Up to 1,500 were expected.It wasn't clear if the Amish, who usually shun modern conveniences such as electricity and cars, were driving themselves under these special circumstances or being driven by non-Amish.
None of the people outside the homes of the victims was willing to speak to reporters. Deputy sheriffs, mindful of the Amish preference for privacy, asked reporters to avoid intruding.
Residents of this community, about 60 miles south of Cleveland, said everyone wanted to help the victims' families.
"You can't imagine how many people are offering to help with food and things like that," said Martha Miller, an Amish woman who lives nearby. "And not just the Amish - all people in this area try to help each other, especially at a time like this."
"We're a very close-knit community," said Vernon Weaver, 46, a non-Amish man watching the arriving Amish from his front porch. "We don't let different traditions stand in the way."
Witnesses said the car was trying to pass a truck on a hill when the driver lost control Thursday. After the car hit the children, it rolled down an embankment, crashed through a fence, and flew over a creek. It hit an embankment nose-first and came to rest on its top. The driver survived.