Child Killed, 2 Adults Hurt In Accident At Alstede Farms in Chester, N.J.
CHESTER, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A child was killed and two adults were hurt in an accident at a fall festival in New Jersey on Sunday.
Morris County Prosecutor Frederic Knapp confirmed the fatality of the child Monday. The accident happened around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the pedestrians were hit at Alstede Farms in Chester after two shuttle buses crashed in a parking lot, CBS 2 reported.
Authorities had not released the names of those involved in the accident, but WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, Kenny Fuehring, of Lake Hopatcong, wrote on Facebook on Sunday night that his 2-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, died at Alstede Farms.
Child Killed, 2 Adults Hurt In Accident At Alstede Farms in Chester
"This afternoon, I lost a piece of me, my daughter Elizabeth," the father wrote. "She was happy, energetic, and adorable. She was way too young and innocent to go."
Fuehring, overcome with grief, spoke about the loss of his daughter on Monday.
"She just...she had that glow about her. That smile," he said.
Elizabeth's mother Sarah was also struck and broke a leg in the accident. She remains heavily sedated, but is aware of what happened.
A Gofundme page was also set up in Elizabeth's honor. More than $20,000 has been raised to help the family with funeral expenses, according to the site.
The farm was hosting a weekend harvest festival at the time of the incident.
As CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported, the community has been sounding the alarm for years, about traffic jams near the farm.
Child Killed, 2 Adults Hurt In Accident At Alstede Farms in Chester, N.J.
"Somebody other than the landowner needs to be in control of these events," Mayo Bill Cogger told Silverman.
Cogger said the farm's owner has spent money studying traffic patterns.
"Fact of the matter is, it simply did not work," he said.
Neighbors said they, too, have voiced concerns.
"It is completely unconscionable," said resident Andrew O'Connor. "It is absurd to have this amount of traffic with no oversight. We have repeatedly complained to Alstede."
Until recently, Alstede was a farm stand, but it then morphed into a regional attraction that now draws tens of thousands of visitors on fall weekends.
Sunday's accident didn't stop many from coming to the farm Monday, but some said they were taking precautions.
"Keep the kids a little close, make sure we keep an eye on them," one man told 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet.
Alstede posted a statement on its website that said: "The Alstede family and staff grieve and mourn for the families impacted by the motor vehicle accident that occurred Sunday October 12, 2014. Our sincere prayers and heartfelt thoughts are extended to everyone involved."
Fuehring wants answers, but for now he is focused on grieving the loss of his little girl, and comforting his 6-year-old son, who saw the crash.
"Everybody will miss her. She's touched so many more people than she knows," he said.
The investigation is ongoing, but a spokesman said that the company could not answer any questions about the accident as it was still under investigation.
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