AUSTERLITZ - Little more is known about a deadly ATV crash in Columbia County Saturday. It happened that afternoon on Harrington drive in the town of Austerlitz when three children took the vehicle for a ride in a driveway.

The eight-year-old driver had his two sisters on board with him when he hit a tree, causing the ATV to roll over, pinning one of the sisters underneath. The three-year-old girl died a short time later.

Police say the boy was also sent to the hospital with facial injuries. The other sister riding along, a 10-year-old, escaped unharmed. None of the children were wearing helmets.

Police have yet to release any names.

"What happened is just a tragedy," said Randi Matalon.

Matalon, a friend of the family affected, was stunned by the news that the life of the little girl had been cut short.

She says the father is devastated. He had been house-sitting with the three children at a home in Austerlitz at the time. It was the ATV of the homeowner that the kids took for a ride in the driveway.

The Columbia County Sheriff's office says the three-year-old was thrown to the ground when the ATV struck a tree and rolled on top of her.

"You can't even imagine something like that happening, but they're a lovely family and our hearts go out to them," Matalon said.

The child's death is the fourth in the Capital Region in the last two months. This latest victim is also the youngest. 

Back in June, twin 17-year-old boys Zachary and Alexander Rohloff were killed when they crashed their ATV's into each other in an area of Schaghticoke. Also in June, 13-year-old Wyatt Spencer was killed in a rollover accident.     

Back in September 2009, 8-year-old Josiah Mazurkiewicz of Saratoga Springs died in a crash in Montgomery County.

With few exceptions, New York State bars anyone under the age of ten from operating an ATV without an adult.