Counselor Choua Mouavangsou said: "It's a great loss for Roosevelt and it's going to be a loss for our community and the community at large to lose three bright hopeful youngsters for the future. I'm really saddened."
The car was so badly mangled it took rescue crews nearly three hours to reach the only teen who survived the initial impact, Keng Wu Chang. The teens were on their way home from Avocado Lake when the Highway Patrol says they passed another vehicle, lost control, and slammed into the tree.
Investigators say speed was to blame. Sergeant Chris Finnegan said: "The witness indicated the vehicle was traveling approximately 65 to 70 miles an hour when it passed by them. So, on this road those are absolutely excessive speeds."
The CHP says this is the fifth accident in just three years on this stretch of Piedra road. Neighbors say people coming from Avocado Lake and Pine Flat just drive too fast here. Neighbor Nicole Wells said: "The fence gets taken out a lot. This time it wasn't our fence, it was a tree. It was fatal. It's a terrible situation because it happens all the time." The survivor Keng Wu Chang is also a recent Roosevelt High Grad. He is now in fair condition now.
