By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2008 3:19 PM

Three children and an adult were hurt this afternoon in a hayride gone awry at an elementary school in Northeast Washington, authorities said.

The driver of a pickup truck being used for the hayride was unable to stop the vehicle, and it rolled into a tree on the grounds of Langdon Elementary School, in the 1900 block of Evarts Street NE. The children suffered minor abrasions. They were taken to a hospital for evaluation, along with the woman driving the truck.

The accident happened at 1:15 p.m. during the school's fall festival. The truck was going between 10 and 15 mph when it rolled into the tree, said Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. The incident remains under investigation.

The hayrides were being offered on the school's playground, with children riding on a hay-covered floor in the bed of the truck. Several other children and a second adult who were in the bed of the truck were not hurt.