Tree Falls on Car in PA, Kills Sisters Ages 6 and 8; 4 Others Injured

By Daniel Distant, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, June 26, 2014

A tree fell on a car heading down a southern Pennsylvania highway Monday, resulting in the deaths of two little girls, according to reports. Ryleigh Freiwald, 8, and Macayla Freiwald, 6, died of blunt force trauma while four others in the vehicle were injured, police said.

The tree fell on the car while a family was traveling along Route 403 at about 2:30 p.m. in their Pontiac Grand AM. Ryleigh and Macayla were killed by the impact while Ciara, 5 and Lillie, 3, were injured. The driver, 36-year-old Jason Himebaugh, was injured and hospitalized while 26-year-old Ashley Lichty, the mother of the four girls, was also injured.

Although Lichty didn't lose her baby— she was eight months pregnant at the time of the crash— that fact did little to ease pain.

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"I saw this lady get out of the passenger seat and she was yelling, 'My babies,'" an eyewitness told CBS news. "We did watch them cut the doors off and cut the roof off, and get the driver out of the car."

All of the injured passengers were taken to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, according to reports. Even emergency personnel that responded to the accident were affected by the gruesome scene.

"In the 10 years I've been here, this is a 9 out of a 10 on a scale," Adam Trabold, a responding paramedic, told The Tribune Review.

The tree falling was a "freak accident" that occurred because of dry rot, Conemaugh Township Police Chief Louis Barclay told ABC News. It was "rotted at the base," he said.