B.U. mourns students killed in New Zealand crash

Boston University students and faculty members hold a candlelight vigil on Marsh Plaza at Boston University, Saturday, May 12, 2012, for three students studying in New Zealand who were killed when their minivan crashed during a weekend trip. At least five other students were injured in the accident, including one who was in critical condition. / AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye

(AP) BOSTON - Tori Pinheiro shed tears and shared the sorrow of the loss of her boyfriend as Boston University students, faculty and officials gathered in a campus plaza to mourn three classmates studying abroad who died in a minivan crash in New Zealand.

Pinheiro told the few hundred who gathered at BU's Marsh Plaza on Saturday night that her boyfriend, Austin Brashears, was among those who died earlier in the day, half a world away. She cried as she recalled how friendly he was and how much she loved him.

She said he recently had left her a voicemail saying he missed her, and she has been playing it repeatedly.

"I listened to it four times, just to hear your voice," she told the crowd as she tried to fight back tears.

Brashears was from Huntington Beach, Calif. The university says the other students killed were Daniela Lekhno, of Manalapan, N.J., and Roch Jauberty, whose parents live in Paris.

"We know these students were alive with hopes, dreams and potential and capacity, all dashed," BU president Robert Brown said.

Vigil held for Boston U. students killed in crash
3 BU students killed in New Zealand crash

A deep sense of loss cast a pall over the campus as some students anticipated approaching graduation and others packed at the end of the school year.

Five other students were injured in the accident early Saturday, including one who was in critical condition.

The students were traveling in a minivan near the North Island vacation town of Taupo when the van drifted to the side of the road and then rolled when the driver tried to correct course, New Zealand police said.

Three of the students died at the scene, police said. Another woman was in critical condition at a hospital, while four other students sustained moderate injuries.

Police and fire crew examine the scene of a minivan crash near Turangi, New Zealand, Saturday, May 12, 2012.

/ AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, John Cowpland

New Zealand police said Sunday two injured victims — both women, one 20 and the other 21 — remain hospitalized in stable condition. The other two injured — a 20-year-old man and 20-year-old woman — were released Saturday.

Another BU student, Margaret Theriault, was airlifted from the crash site to a hospital in Taupo and remained in critical condition a day after the accident. In a statement Sunday afternoon, local health official Mary Anne Gill said the 21-year-old woman had surgery Saturday and was in intensive care.

New Zealand police spokeswoman Kim Perks said Sunday that any suggestion as to the cause of the crash at this stage is "just speculation," and that the investigation into the accident "will take some time."

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[nohater]

don't get vigils, candles, etc. when we die, we are dead. vigils, lighting candles does nothing for the deceased. wonder what the stats are for how many people die, of any cause, every minute all over the world. bet it's a huge number.

[drelectron63]

I'm sorry, and don't get me wrong I feel for the friends and family of these people, but WHY IS THIS FRONT PAGE NEWS?????????
People get killed every day in car accidents, parents, children, whole families!!!!!!
I don't get it?!?!

[all4science]

well....if you said that then nothing quite makes it to the front page; it'd be another earth quake, another tsunami, another murder, another air disaster, another financial crisis, another extra marital affair, etc......