'Terrible tragedy': 3 members of University of Wyoming’s swimming team killed after their car swerves off the road

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO: Three members of the University of Wyoming’s swimming and diving team lost their lives in a horrific car accident on Thursday afternoon, February 22.

The crash occurred on US 287 near the Wyoming-Colorado border when the driver of the Toyota RAV4 they were traveling in swerved off the road and rolled over several times.

University of Wyoming mourns the loss of student-athletes

The university identified the victims as Charlie Clark, 19, a sophomore psychology major from Las Vegas, Carson Muir, 18, a freshman animal and veterinary sciences major from Birmingham, Alabama, and Luke Slabber, 21, a junior construction management major from Cape Town, South Africa.

All three were members of the universities swim team, the Denver Post reported. Head coach Dave Denniston told SwimSwam that his team is “devastated.”

“We are heartsick at the news of this terrible tragedy for our university, our state, our student-athlete community and, most importantly, the families and friends of these young people,” University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel stated in the university’s Thursday, February 22, release.

“Words are insufficient to express our sadness,” he added.

“My thoughts and prayers are with our swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches, families and friends,” University of Wyoming’s Athletics Director Tom Burman stated in the same release.

“It is difficult to lose members of our University of Wyoming family, and we mourn the loss of these student-athletes. We have counseling services available to our student-athletes and coaches in our time of need,” Burman added.

Two other students were injured in the crash

Two other students, a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old, both men, were also in the car and survived the crash with injuries that were not life-threatening.

They were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Their names have not been released to the public.

Colorado State Patrol troopers responded to the scene of the crash at 2:44 pm Thursday, February 22.

According to a news release from the Colorado State Patrol, the car was heading southbound on US 287.

It’s believed that the “driver swerved and the vehicle went off the road, rolling multiple times," they said, ejecting two of the occupants.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation and it is not known if speed, drugs or alcohol were factors.

The news release also stated that the students were not traveling for an official school function during the crash.

University of Wyoming's students have been involved in a deadly crash before

This is not the first time that University of Wyoming students have been involved in a deadly crash on US 287.

In 2001, eight members of the university’s cross-country team were killed when a drunk driver, who was also a student at the university, collided head-on with their SUV.

The driver, Clint Haskins, was the only survivor of the crash which happened 15 miles south of Laramie. He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and served 9 1/2 years in prison before being paroled.

US 287 was closed at Red Mountain Road for several hours on Thursday, February 22, as authorities conducted the crash investigation. The highway reopened at around 6.30 pm, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.