MATHIAS, W.Va. — Three Virginia college students were killed when their vehicle left a road and struck a tree in West Virginia, authorities said Friday.
The single-vehicle accident occurred Thursday night along West Virginia Route 259 near the Virginia border, the Hardy County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
There were five men in the vehicle, all 19-year-old students at James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia, the sheriff's office said. Three occupants were pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver and another passenger were airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. The statement didn’t indicate the hospital where they were taken.
The statement said the men were at a club prior to the accident about 37 miles (59 kilometers) from Harrisonburg. The statement said road conditions were dry and there were no signs of vehicle skid marks on the road. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The names of the students who were killed were not immediately released.