Georgia students seek solace after crash claims 4 students

Georgia students seek solace after crash claims 4 students


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ATLANTA (AP) — One of two survivors of a car crash that killed four University of Georgia students earlier this week remained in critical condition Friday, a hospital spokesman said.

Students prayed, wept and consoled one another on the Athens campus. The hashtag #GeorgiaStrong trended on social media. And flags across Georgia flew at half-staff Friday, two days after the deadly crash.

The students' white Toyota Camry crossed the centerline and was struck by an oncoming blue Chevy Cobalt on Wednesday night on Georgia State Route 15, the Georgia State Patrol said.

The Camry's driver, 21-year-old University of Georgia senior Agnes Kim of Snellville, Georgia, remained in critical condition Friday, said Mike Pilcher, a spokesman at Athens Regional Medical Center.

Kim was in a coma late Thursday, her pastor, Lee Mason of Classic City Church in Athens, was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying. Pilcher said he couldn't comment further on Kim's medical condition due to federal privacy laws.

Kim is scheduled to graduate next month with a business degree, the university said.

The students killed, all from the Atlanta suburbs, were Kayla Canedo, 19, of Alpharetta; Brittany Feldman, 20, of Alpharetta; Christina Semeria, 19, of Milton; and Halle Scott, 19, of Dunwoody, the State Patrol said.

The driver of the Cobalt, 27-year-old Abby Short of Demorest, Georgia, was also treated at the hospital after the crash, but has since been released, Pilcher said.

The investigation will involve revisiting the scene of the crash to re-create what happened using a computer program, Georgia State Patrol Capt. Mark Perry said Friday. The agency's Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team will return to the site to create a scale representation of the scene, he said.

If there are any charges as a result of the crash, they would not come until the accident reconstruction team completes its work at the scene and surviving motorists can be interviewed, Perry said.

A candlelight service is planned for Tuesday evening on the campus to remember the four students and 22 other members of the university community who have died in the past year.

The service is an annual event to honor university and employees who passed away. It holds special significance this year, coming shortly after the car crash.

Names of the 26 students, faculty and staff members who have died will be read aloud on the steps of the chapel, following by the toll of the chapel bell and the lighting of a candle as each name is read.

On Friday, Mason and his wife, Lisa, returned to the hospital to pray over Kim, whose condition was mostly unchanged from the day before, Lisa Mason told the Atlanta newspaper.

"You're happy that she's alive but it's a very weird relief," Lee Mason said, noting that four lives were lost. "You have four sets of parents whose worst nightmare came true."

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This story has been corrected to show that the woman in critical condition is one of two survivors, not the sole survivor of the crash.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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