Oklahoma crash leaves 6 teenage students dead

TISHOMINGO, Oklahoma, USA (AP) — Six teenage students died in a two-vehicle collision in southern Oklahoma, the state Highway Patrol reported Tuesday.

The students were aboard a passenger vehicle that crashed into a semi-trailer around 12:30 p.m. in Tishomingo, a rural town of about 3,000 people located 161 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Oklahoma City, according to Sarah Stewart, spokesman for the highway patrol.

The teenagers were driving eastbound on Oklahoma Highway 22 when their vehicle was hit by a truck approaching from the east on federal highway 377, highway patrol agent Shelby Humphrey told KXII-TV in nearby Sherman, Texas.

The maps show that the intersection is at the end of a 90-degree bend of Highway 377 from east to south. The car in which the students were riding was turning to the right when it crashed into the truck, Humphrey said.

Stewart said she wasn't the age of the students, but that all six victims were women. At the moment, the condition of the truck driver was unknown.

Images from the crash site showed a black vehicle virtually destroyed with what appeared to be a pink steering wheel in the rubble.

Tishomingo Public School Superintendent Bobby Waitman posted on Facebook that the district had suffered “a huge loss” involving high school students in the district.

“Our hearts are broken, and we are grieving with our students and staff members,” said Waitman, who did not immediately respond to a call on Tuesday.

He added that counselors would be available in high school on Tuesday night and that the school would open on Wednesday focusing on the “emotional well-being of our students.”