The small, four-seat car with six high school girls packed inside rolled through a stop sign at an Oklahoma intersection Tuesday before it was struck by a semi-truck, killing all of the teens inside, federal investigators revealed.
“Witnesses reported the (vehicle) made a ‘rolling stop’ at the stop sign and entered (the intersection)” before the violent collision with the truck that was hauling rocks, according to a Thursday statement from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson Peter Knudson.
The teens, who ranged in age from 15 to 17, were traveling in a Chevrolet Spark that is designed to carry four passengers. Only the driver and the passenger were wearing seatbelts, according to a report by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The girls were identified as Gracie Machado, Brooklyn Triplett, Austin Holt, Madison Robertson, Addison Gratz and Memory Wilson, the Daily Mail reported, citing friends and family.
The driver of the truck, Valendon Burton, 51, was wearing a seatbelt and was not injured in the wreck, the cause of which remains under investigation.
No criminal charges have been filed in the crash, according to the OHP.
All of the girls attended the tight-knit Tishomingo High School about 100 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The high school has an enrollment of just 240 students.
They were out on lunch break at the time of the accident, according to Superintendent Bobby Waitman.
The mood at the school was somber Wednesday, Waitman told The Post. A memorial service is scheduled at the school on Friday night at the football stadium.
“They were known, they were not just a number,” Waitman said. “They were not just another student. These young people were loved by this community, and their loss is a great one to everyone involved.”
NTSB investigators are expected to complete on-scene work by Monday and provide a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days. A final report on the likely cause of the collision is expected in 12 to 24 months, according to Knudson’s statement.
With Post wires
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