According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, six teenage girls were killed in a collision between their small car and a truck carrying rocks on a lunch break at high school.
According to OHP, only the driver and front-seat passenger of the 16-year old car were wearing seatbelts when the 2015 Chevrolet Spark collided on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the highway patrol, the crash took place in Tishomingo (a small rural town of approximately 3,000 people) about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Oklahoma City. According to the highway patrol, the victims included the 16-year old driver, three 15 year-olds and two 17-year old passengers.
Bobby Waitman, Tishomingo Public School superintendent, told The Associated Press the six were taking a lunch break when the crash occurred. It happened approximately one mile (1.6 km) from Tishomingo High School.
Waitman stated that students from the district with approximately 850 students attended class Wednesday.
Waitman stated that academics are secondary to students feeling safe and secure.
Waitman said, “You won’t ever fully understand, and I don’t believe we’ll ever understand a loss such as this,” Waitman continued.
Because they are juveniles, the names of the girls were not released.
Highway patrol identified the truck driver as Valendon Burton (51), Burneyville, Oklahoma. According to the report, Burton was not hurt in the accident.
Wednesday morning’s crash report stated that the circumstances surrounding the accident remain under investigation. KXII TV reported that Shelby Humphrey, OHP Trooper, said Tuesday night the girls’ car was turning right when it collided into the truck.
According to Peter Knudson (NSB spokesperson), a team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators was on the scene. They include people who specialize in highway factors, motor carrier operation and crash reconstruction.
Waitman stated that funeral services were not scheduled for students yet and that the district would work closely with their families in order to schedule a memorial service.
One week earlier, nine people died in an accident in West Texas . The National Transportation Safety Board found that a 13-year old boy was at the wheel of a truck which crossed the centerline and collided into a van carrying University of the Southwest students.
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