KAY COUNTY, Okla. — Three University of Oklahoma meteorology students died in a Friday night car crash on Interstate 35, as they made their way home from chasing a powerful tornado in Kansas.
Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas, and two passengers were heading south on I-35 when their SUV hydroplaned, left the road and attempted to re-enter traffic but was struck by a southbound tractor-trailer after the SUV became disabled and blocked the outside lane, KOKI-TV reported.
According to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report, Nair’s passengers have been identified as 19-year-old Gavin Short of Grayslake, Illinois, and 22-year-old Drake Brooks of Evansville, Indiana, KSAT-TV reported.
The crash occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m., and all three students were pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the freightliner was treated and released from an area hospital, KOKI reported.
In a statement issued Saturday evening and posted across multiple social media channels, the university’s College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences confirmed the deaths, calling the news an “unthinkable heartbreak.”
“Our community in the Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences is close-knit, and our School of Meteorology is very much a family. Now, more than ever, we must come together in kindness and heartfelt support for one another. Please join us in offering thoughts and prayers for those most impacted, and providing them with privacy,” college officials wrote.
— College of A&GS (@OUAGS) April 30, 2022
According to the accident report, the crash occurred in Tonkawa, about 85 miles north of Oklahoma City, KSAT reported.
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