Four high school students were in a car that crashed in Hyde Park on Wednesday. One of them was pronounced dead, and three were wounded.
It’s a call no parent wants to receive.
“It's a horrible tragedy, a parent's worst nightmare when we have to make notification that their child has perished in an auto accident,” said Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati.
The crash occurred just before noon on Wednesday, killing a high schooler and hurting three other students. Law enforcement believes they were traveling from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School to Dutchess BOCES, where they’re all students.
“We immediately started to enact our crisis management team to ensure that we were prepared. We responded accordingly to support our students and our staff,” said Pedro Roman, superintendent of schools for the Hyde Park Central School District.
A preliminary investigation shows the car was traveling south on South Quaker Lane when the driver lost control, left the road and hit a utility pole near Honeywell Lane.
While the crash is still being investigated, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office said unsafe speed appears to be a contributing factor.
“Law enforcement, school districts educating our children on traffic safety, educating them on how to be a safe operator, safe driver, and obeying the rules of the road, these are very important things that we all have to do,” Imperati said.
Officials said all four students were brought to local hospitals, and the driver was pronounced dead.
“Four students were involved in my home community. I know the mom, and like I said, 'I can't imagine what you go through,'” Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino said. “They're the kids in our community, right? With their futures ahead of them. And, you know, to hear something like this happen is just so tragic and heartbreaking.”
Roman said the high school has support stations with art therapy and individual and group counseling for both students and staff members.
He said students have come together to make cards for the families and their classmates impacted.
“This is going to bring us closer together so that we can continue to support each other and have the strength and courage and support to lean on each other, to make sure that we get through this collectively,” Roman said.
A front-seat passenger suffered what appears to be serious injuries, while the rear passengers received less serious injuries, officials said.
The identities of the four students were not yet released. The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and Hyde Park Police Department continue to investigate.