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  The Digital Collegian - Published independently by students at Penn State NEWS
[ Monday, March 14, 2005 ]

Four PSU students die in car accidents

Collegian Staff Writers

Four Penn State students were killed and two were injured in two fatal weekend car accidents during the university's spring break.

Three students were ejected from a vehicle on Interstate 80, near Danville, and killed last Saturday when their 1997 Nissan Maxima crossed into oncoming traffic and went airborne.

International students Djung Tchoi, 33, Hyeonhwa Lee, 30, and Joo-Ook Kim, 27, all from Korea, died in the accident, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Jinhee Kim, 30, was injured in the accident, police said.

International Student Services (ISS) Director Negar Davis said Jinhee Kim was discharged from Geisinger Medical Center Monday and is recovering from a broken collarbone.

ISS staff members visited with Kim earlier in the week, Davis said.

"She was doing a lot better," Davis said.

Information about the cause of the accident was not available yesterday, police said.

Only Tchoi, the driver, was wearing a seat belt.

Another student, Chen-Ying Chien, 20, was driving on the Florida Turnpike between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale last Monday when her car struck a concrete barrier and overturned several times, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Chien, a first-year student from Taiwan, was killed in the accident. Chien and passenger Ai Miyazawa, 21, were both wearing seat belts, police said.

Miyazawa, an international student from Japan, was injured and flown to St. Mary's Medical Center, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Pat Santangelo said.

Miyazawa was listed in fair condition yesterday.

Santangelo said Chien was driving southbound in the turnpike's left lane, when the car began to drift into the right lane. The car then moved back into the left lane and struck the concrete barrier, Santangelo said.

Alcohol and weather were not factors in the accident, which is currently being investigated, Santangelo said.

International Student Services (ISS) has been working with the Korean Student Association and Taiwanese Student Organization to notify family members and make arrangements, Davis said.

Davis said the Taiwanese and Korean embassies have helped make arrangements to return the bodies of the students to their families for funeral and memorial services.

The three students along I-80 killed Saturday were graduate students, Davis said.

Tchoi was a doctoral student in mass communications, Joo-Ook Kim was a master's degree student in business administration and Lee was a doctoral student in educational theory and policy. Jinhee Kim is a doctoral student in mass communications.

Chien was an undergraduate student studying business administration. Miyazawa is an undergraduate student studying communications.

A memorial was held Tuesday for the students killed in the I-80 accident, Davis said. Memorial services are also being planned on-campus for the four students killed.

"We are working with the associations to hold a memorial service on-campus for them," Davis said. "Everyone has been involved and understanding."

Davis said a date has not yet been set for the memorial services.


 

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Updated: Monday, March 14, 2005  3:04:33 PM  -4
Requested: Thursday, August 21, 2008  8:24:16 PM  -4
Created: Wednesday, May 07, 2008  6:52:40 PM  -4