Four Maine Maritime Academy students were killed and three others were injured in a fiery crash, officials said.
The group was traveling south on Route 166 in Castine, Maine, early Saturday when the Range Rover they were in veered off the road and hit a tree before “erupting in flames,” Maine State Police said in a news release.
State police responded to the crash just after 2 a.m., and four passengers were pronounced dead on the scene.
They have been identified as 20-year-old Brian Kenealy of York, Maine; 20-year-old Riley Ignacio-Cameron of Aquinnah, Massachusetts; 21-year-old Chase Fossett of Gardiner, Maine; and 22-year-old Luke Simpson of Rockport, Massachusetts, according to state police.
The driver and two other passengers were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
“All seven of the occupants in the vehicle were identified as students at Maine Maritime Academy,” state police said in the release. “A full investigation is being conducted and will be reviewed once completed.”
Jerry Paul, president of the Maine Maritime Academy, said in a statement posted to the school’s website on Saturday that he is “devastated” by the loss of the four students.
“Our community is grieving for these young lives and for their families,” Paul said. “While we have lost beloved members of our student body, tonight there are four families who have lost their children. I ask for continued respect and privacy of our Maine Maritime family.”
He asked that the community “hold these young people close to your hearts and in your prayers.”
“We will of course continue to work with the authorities in the coming days and continue to offer counseling support to our students, faculty and staff,” Paul said.
The community will hold a vigil at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on the academy’s Leavitt Hall Lawn, a notice on its website reads. The school says “all are welcome” to attend.
Maine Maritime Academy is a “public, co-educational college” with about 950 students, according to its website. It offers “courses of study in engineering, management, science, and transportation.”
The school is located in Castine, which is on the coast of Maine, about 80 miles east of Augusta.
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