Three Boston University students were killed and five others hospitalized in New Zealand on Saturday when their minivan veered and then rolled over several times.
Joseph Bergen, the U.S. vice consul in Auckland, identified the deceased as Daniela Lekhno, Roch Jauberty and Austin Brashears, according to Boston University.
Of the five hospitalized, a 21-year-old woman was in critical condition at Rotorua Hospital, the New Zealand Herald reported. other women aged 20 and 21 were in stable condition there and a 21-year-old woman and 21-year-old man were treated and discharged at Taupo Hospital, the Herald said.
The families of all students in the accident were informed, police said.
The injured are Stephen Houseman, Alys McAlpine, Emily Melton, Kathy Moldawer and Margaret Theriault, Boston University stated.
Lekhno was from Manalapan, N.J., Brashears from Huntington Beach, Calif., and Jauberty’s parents live in Paris, the university added.
Police said the students were traveling in the minivan at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET Friday) near the North Island vacation town of Taupo when the vehicle drifted to the side of the road and then rolled.
“The driver appears to have corrected, or over corrected, and the vehicle started to roll and then cartwheeled down the road,” police inspector Kevin Taylor told reporters.
The students were reportedly headed for Tongariro National Park, where they were planning to hike the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
A second vehicle carrying more Boston University students and a student from another American university was traveling behind the first in convoy.
Those in the second vehicle “are traumatized … and don’t wish to speak to media,” New Zealand police said in a statement.
Police could not confirm if the students had been wearing seat belts but said that some had been thrown from the vehicle, indicating that might have been the case, Taylor said.
“This is a horrible tragedy,” Boston University President Robert Brown said in a statement. “Our prayers go out to the students and their families. We will do all we can to provide comfort and assistance to those who have been injured, and to the families and friends of the victims.”
Two of the students who died were studying at the University of Auckland and the other was at the Auckland University of Technology, the Boston Globe reported.
The head of University of Auckland’s study abroad program told the Globe he believed 47 Boston University students were enrolled there.
