Wrong-way crash kills 5, including 2 students on college visit, Arkansas school says
Five people were killed in a wrong-way crash as they traveled home from an out-of-state college visit, Arkansas officials say.
The five victims were identified by Sylvan Hills High School as Susanna Prime, Ava Luplow, Andrea Prime, Salomon Correa and Maggie Franco. Susanna Prime and Luplow were students at the school, and Andrea Prime, Correa and Franco were recent graduates.
They had just spent a week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, visiting Jackson Hole Bible College, according to Faith Bible Fellowship Church.
“Our thoughts are with the families and school community as they grieve the loss of such young lives,” the school said in a Facebook post. “You all will be greatly missed.”
Wyoming Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 6:50 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22. A driver in a Dodge Ram 3500 was traveling the wrong way on Interstate 80 and crashed into a commercial truck and passenger car, patrol officers said.
A driver of a second commercial truck tried to avoid the crash by driving into the median, but struck a Ford F-150 traveling in the opposite lanes, police said. Both vehicles “became engulfed in flames,” including the F-150 the Arkansas students were in, according to highway patrol.
The five occupants in the F-150 were killed in the crash and others received critical injuries. The driver of the Dodge Ram was arrested “on suspicion of impairment,” and additional charges are possible, highway patrol said.
Lydia VanderVate, who grew up with the five victims, said it feels like her “heart is broken.”
“They all had such bubbly personalities, could get along, always laughing with each other,” VanderVate told KARK.
Quint Scruggs, a recent graduate of Sylvan Hills High School, said the girls were “always joyful.”
“I mean there was never a dull moment, always made you laugh,” Scruggs told KATV.
Sylvan Hills High School is in Sherwood, about 10 miles north of Little Rock.
Teens hit, killed as police chased accused car thief, Louisiana cops say. Officer charged
Four teens killed in crash into pole, Iowa cops say. ‘Tragedy for our entire community’
Students driving to watch sunrise killed in wrong-way crash, cops say. Driver charged
