SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) — Sadness surrounds a suburban high school after two students from South Elgin High School were killed and two others injured in a crash Thursday on their way to school.
The students collided with a semi-truck at Route 25 and Kenyon Road on the border of Bartlett and South Elgin.
Friends and classmates left flowers by a pole just steps away from the crash scene.
Just after 7 a.m. Thursday, the four teenage girls were just a couple blocks away from South Elgin High School, but they never arrived.
Their Honda Civic collided with a semi-truck pushing the wreckage into a corn field.
“It took just a matter of minutes today for this to unfold and then to have this outpouring of support,” District U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson said.
The mangled wreckage at the scene made it challenging for firefighters to reach the four teens trapped inside the car. They had to remove the car’s roof to find three of the girls inside unconscious.
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“Every accident is hard to deal with, especially one such as this,” South Elgin Fire Chief William Luchsinger said.”
The driver of the semi-truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
It happened before school began for the day. But as word of the crash spread, the school made counselors and social workers available to help students cope with the sudden loss of their classmates.
“I think you just take it one step at a time right,” South Elgin High School Principal Kurt Johansen said. “We’re just trying to get through the moment right now.”
School District U-46 released a statement saying, “It is with a heavy heart that we write about a loss in our South Elgin High School family. Losing a member of our school community is a tragedy, sad, and may be difficult to understand. Four South Elgin High School students were involved in a car accident this morning. According to our law enforcement, two of the students lost their lives, and one of the other students is in critical condition and is being treated at an area hospital, and the fourth student received non-life-threatening injuries. At this time, we cannot share the student’s names out of respect to the families and to allow for next of kin notifications. We have school social workers and counselors available for emotional support for students, staff and families. Our thoughts, prayers, and most sincere condolences are with the families and loved ones of the students during this incredibly difficult time.”
The school said all families are still being notified, so they are not releasing any information about the four students involved.
Bartlett police now investigating all the details from the crash and what led up to it.
