Three Japanese college students were killed and 5 others were injured in a car crash in California, California Highway Patrol said Friday.
The students were in the 2000 Honda Prelude as the vehicle hit a power pole on state Route 78 in Oceanside, late Thursday. The impact of the crash was so strong that the pole cut off in half and the power lines were left dangling.
All the eight students were in an international program at San Marcos-based Palomar College where 135 Japanese students were staying with host families in the San Diego area, school president Robert Deegan said Friday, reports the Associated Press.
The 19-year-old male driver of the car and two passengers were pronounced dead on the spot, while other five passengers of the car suffered moderate to major injuries. The doctors said they are expected to survive.
College President Robert Deegan issued a statement saying, "We have lost three members of the Palomar family, and we are truly reeling from the loss." However, Deegan did not reveal the identities of the victims and said he did not have any personal information about them. He also raised questions why the 8 students were in the vehicle when it could accommodate only 4.
Officials investigatingthe accident are trying to find out if the victims were wearing seat belts.
Students expressed shock and dismay following the incident. "I felt really bad because they just got here and started a new life in college," Kurumi Misawa, 19, of Yokohama, Japan, said while studying on a sun-drenched patio.
