A close-knit Mennonite community in Kentucky was in mourning this past weekend after 11 people, on their way to a wedding in Iowa, were killed in a horrific accident with a tractor-trailer. http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/kentucky-mennonites-labor-through-grief-to-bury-family/19416913?icid=main|main|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fkentucky-mennonites-labor-through-grief-to-bury-family%2F19416913 The Mennonites died after the truck crossed a highway meridian on I-65 in central Kentucky and hit the 15-seat Dodge van that the 11 deceased were traveling in. The tragedy took place shortly after 5:30 a.m., about 40 miles northwest of Bowling Green, not far from Mammoth Cave National Park.
In what seemed to be a minor miracle, the crash’s only survivors were two young brothers. They were both strapped into child safety seats, and lived after being thrown from the van. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/mennonites_die_in_crash_gpYaJyIk3QymzvsZUcEUBL
The tractor-trailer driver, who was from Alabama, was among those killed in the crash.
The Mennonite deceased included John Esh, 64, and his 62-yar-old wife Sadie Esh, who owned a vinyl siding business in Marrowbone, Ky.
In addition, four of the Esh’s 12 children were killed, as well as their daughter-in-law, their youngest daughter’s fiancé, their infant grandchild and a family friend. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/us/27kentucky.html?ref=us The only crash survivors who were passengers in the van were the Eshes’ two grandsons, 5-year-old Josiah Esh and 3-year-old Johnny Esh.
Their adopted baby brother, Jalen, died in the collision.
This past weekend members of the Mennonite community were actually building coffins by hand for those who perished on Friday.
The van left Burkesville, Ky., Friday at 4 a.m. Central time, ending in what The New York Times called the worst two-vehicle highway crash in Kentucky since 1988. There were 27 people killed in that accident.