Three meteorology students have been killed in a car crash in Oklahoma while driving back from a storm chasing trip to Kansas where they had been documenting a tornado on social media.
Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas, Gavin Short, 19, of Grayslake, Illinois, and Drake Brooks, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, died on Friday night when their car plowed into a semi-truck in Tonkawa, close to Oklahoma’s border with Kansas.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol said that the three University of Oklahoma students were travelling southbound along Interstate 35 at around 11.30pm when their Volkswagen Tiguan hydroplaned and was struck by a truck.
The college friends were trapped inside the vehicle for over five hours before emergency responders could retrieve their bodies.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
The truck driver survived the collision and was taken to hospital for injuries, before being released.
The three college students were returning from Kansas at the time after going, as part of a larger group, to chase the storms that had barreled into the state that day.
Just hours before the tragedy unfolded, Mr Nair and Mr Short had posted videos on Twitter of a tornado in Herington, Kansas.
“Large dusty tornado 4 miles north of Herrington, Kansas. Filmed at 8:07 pm. We observed power flashes in the town,” wrote Mr Short.
Mr Nair captioned his video: “Tornado on the ground passing Highway 77 around 8:10 PM. Four miles north of Herington, Kansas.”
A close friend of the victims and fellow meteorology student at University of Oklahoma said that they had all been so excited to cover the storms with Mr Brooks even seeing a tornado for the first time.
“They had a great day. They [called] their parents after and were telling them about how excited they were,” Brayden Siau told KFOR.
“Drake actually saw his first tornado yesterday.”
He was still trying to process their sudden tragic deaths.
“It’s just so sudden. They’re just gone, I really don’t know… It’s awful,” he said.
Friends were planning a vigil for the trio on Saturday night.
The University of Oklahoma released a statement saying it was “devastated” by the deaths of the three students.
“The university is devastated to learn of the tragic passing of three students,” it read. “Each were valued and loved members of our community. At this time, we ask the public to respect the privacy of their families.”
The College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma also paid tribute to the students saying its members were “deeply saddened” by their tragic deaths.
“Our leadership and faculty stand ready to support each of our community members in the days, weeks and months ahead as we all grieve this unthinkable heartbreak,” it said.
The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, shared a video on Twitter on Saturday evening letting off a weather balloon with the students’ names on it.
“On this very sad day in the Norman weather community, our evening weather balloon launch is dedicated to Nic, Drake and Gavin – OU meteorology students who died in a tragic traffic accident last night,” the agency wrote.
A powerful tornado tore through the Wichita area of Kansas that night, barreling into the path of almost 1,000 buildings, injuring several residents and leaving thousands without power.
The “direct tornado strike” began in Sedgwick County before travelling into Andover, flattening dozens of structures on its way, officials said.
As of Sunday morning, officials were still working to determine the extent of the damage but around 960 buildings are known to have been in the tornado’s path.
The National Weather Service has given the tornado a preliminary classification of EF3.
No fatalities were reported but several people were injured, including one woman who suffered serious injuries in Sedgwick County.
Over 20,000 homes and businesses across Kansas had been plunged into darkness as the power went out in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.
The severe weather prompted Kansas Governor Laura Kelly to issue a state of emergency in the state on Friday night, saying “we can’t wait for the storm to hit before we respond”.
