South Elgin High School community mourns after students die in Bartlett crash with semi
SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) -- South Elgin High School students and staff were reeling Thursday night after two students were killed and two more were injured in a crash.
On Thursday morning, those four students were headed to class. Just hours later, their community was coming together to heal.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, it was a tough day for the high school community. The school had previously scheduled an open house for parents for Thursday night, and the event likely turned into a much-needed gathering for emotional support.
As the sun set in South Elgin, it brought one of the darkest times at South Elgin High School to close.
"It's tough. That's what you would expect, right?" said South Elgin High School principal Kurt Johansen. "It's difficult."
It was tough for school community members to wrap their minds around the deadly crash involving four students – all teenage girls – who were riding in a black Honda around 7 a.m. Thursday at Illinois Route 25 and Kenyon Road in Bartlett. The intersection is just around the corner from the school.
The car collided with a dump truck. The impact was so severe that the vehicle was pushed several feet into a cornfield – while the dump truck flipped on its side.
Two of the young ladies in the car were killed. Two others – one of them the driver – suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the dump truck is expected to recover.
"It's overwhelming, the loss and grief," said Elgin Area School superintendent Suzanne Johnson.
As the investigation into the cause of the crash gets underway, there is a void at the school and in the community.
"You just take it one step at a time, right?" Johansen said. "We're just trying to get through the moment right now and will try to get through the day, and then we'll try to get through the month. We'll just take it a day at a time after that."
We learned two girls in the crash were from the same family – and the calamity of the tragedy is taking a toll on first responders – who used the jaws of life to free the girls who were trapped.
"These are extremely difficult," said South Elgin Fire Chief William Luchsinger. "Firemen have hearts. They have emotions. They have feelings. We all have families."
The school is offering resources for students who feel they need them, counselors, and therapy dogs on site for as long as there is a need.