SUFFOLK, Va. (KHN) – A woman was killed and five others, including two minors, were injured in an incident in Suffolk on Thursday, where police suspect they were using a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) to pull a “makeshift” sled on a rope, according to Police Chief James Buie.
Around 4:03 p.m., Suffolk authorities responded to a sledding mishap on Longstreet Lane, in which multiple people were hurt.
WTKR News 3 received 9-1-1 audio from the event, which shows a dispatcher reporting horrific injuries as first responders respond to a property in the 2400 block of Longstreet Lane.
Buie stated that the group was using the UTV to pull the sled, which could have been the hood of a truck or farm equipment.
“Being pulled behind any motor vehicle in the snow is dangerous,” Buie added, noting that the “sled” was one of the questions investigators were looking into.
“During that time frame, they lost control of the sled, and six people were injured, one fatally,” Buie said, adding that they believe all six people were on the sled at the time of the accident. The woman’s exact cause of death was not immediately known, and Buie declined to say whether any charges were pending due to the continuing investigation.
“Everybody wants to get out and wants to play in the snow,” according to Buie. “When you’re being pulled by a recreational vehicle and your speeds increase and you’re being pulled on something that there are no breaks… once you lose control of that, there’s no way to stop it until it hits another object.”
A first responder may be heard on the 9-1-1 audio requesting many pieces of equipment to assist the victims. They later stated that one victim was in and out of consciousness.
Buie stated that the questions of whether and how all of the fatalities are related, how they were injured, and what part, if any, the UTV driver played in this tragedy remained unanswered on Friday.
WTKR News 3 confirmed that the minors are over the age of ten, but no other information on those injured was available.
According to the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to consumer interest and education, fatal UTV crashes are uncommon across the US.
According to the most recent available data, at least one fatal UTV crash occurred in Virginia in 2023. Eight other states, including West Virginia, reported only one fatal UTV crash in 2023.
Reference: Woman dies, 5 injured in Suffolk after losing control of sled pulled by UTV