Milligan University said two members of its cycling team were killed and seven others were injured after a car struck a group of riders in northeastern Tennessee.
The Associated Press reported that 11 cyclists were on a morning training ride when they were hit in Hampton, about 11 miles from the university. The two students who died were sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers.
Authorities arrested a 69-year-old North Carolina man, according to the AP report. The county district attorney said the driver faced two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and five counts of aggravated assault by vehicle with recklessness.
Four injured students were in critical condition Wednesday evening, two were stable in hospital and one had been discharged, the AP reported, citing the trauma medical director at Johnson City Medical Center.
Local broadcaster WAFF reported that Rogers was from Huntsville, Alabama, and confirmed that he and Engdahl were members of the Milligan cycling team. The Tennessee Highway Patrol was investigating the circumstances of the crash.
The university’s president asked the campus community to support the injured students and their families. The road’s posted speed limit was 50 miles per hour, officials said, but investigators had not announced a final account of how the collision occurred.
