3 from Nepal die in car crash in Minnesota
Associated Press
Last update: January 03, 2006 – 12:33 PM
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From left, Nishma Timilsina, 20, Utshav Basnet, 19, and Bedija Kharel, 20
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ST. JAMES, Minn. — Three college students from Nepal were killed Monday afternoon when the car they were riding in was hit broadside by another vehicle on a southern Minnesota highway.
The State Patrol said the three victims - all students at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall - were not wearing seat belts when the car they were in was struck while the driver tried to make a U-turn from the right shoulder of a two-lane highway just south of St. James.
Killed were Utshav Basnet, 19, Nishma Timilsina, 20, and Bedija Kharel, 20, all of whom were enrolled in classes at Southwest Minnesota State. The students were off school on winter break at the time of the accident.
Injured in the collision were Rachel Thompson, 17, of Clarks Grove, Minn., who drove the car attempting the U-turn, and another passenger, Jeremy Dorpinghais, 27, of Forest City, Iowa.
The driver of the other vehicle, Leroy Sydness, 82, of Jackson, Minn., is being treated for injuries at a hospital in Madelia, Minn.
According to State Patrol trooper Mike DeJong, the investigating officer, the accident occurred at 2:25 p.m. at the intersection of State Hwy. 4 and Watonwan Co. Rd. 10 south of St. James.
According to DeJong:
Thompson was driving south on Hwy. 4 when she pulled off on the right shoulder to make a U-turn. After one car passed, she pulled onto the highway and attempted to turn when her car was hit broadside by Sydness.
Timilsina and Kharel, who were sitting in the back seat, were ejected from Thompson’s vehicle and died at the scene.
Basnet, who was also in the back seat and not wearing a seat belt, was transported to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, where he died Monday night.
Thompson and Dorpinghais were taken to Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, where they are in serious and fair condition, respectively, a hospital spokeswoman said today.
Sydness, who was wearing a seat belt and whose car air bag deployed, is in good condition in a hospital in nearby Madelia, a nursing supervisor there said this afternoon. DeJong said the road was wet and that there had been a slight mist at the time of the accident.
However, he said visibility was not an issue. Alcohol also was not a factor, he said. “There was a little bit of a light mist in the air, but visibility in my estimation was at least three or more miles,” DeJong said.
DeJong said he did not know the relationship between Thompson and the victims. He said he hopes to speak with Sydness and Dorpinghaus later today to find out more about what happened.
About 225 international students from 25 countriers are enrolled at Southwest Minnesota State University, said Jim Tate, associate director of university relations. Tate said classes resume on Jan. 18.
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