Friends and classmates of five teenagers killed in a car crash at the weekend have described their “overwhelming” grief.
The victims, aged 16-18 and from Doncaster, were travelling on the A630 in Conisborough, South Yorkshire, on Saturday night when their Toyota Corolla collided with an oncoming car.
Four of the teenagers – 16-year-olds Blake Cairns, Jordanna Goodwin and Megan Storey, and 18-year-old Arpad Kore – were sixth-form students at Danum academy in Doncaster. The fifth victim, Bartosz Bortniczak, 18, was a former pupil of the school.
Kate Speakman, a Danum student, said: “It’s just really overwhelming. I just can’t believe it. It’s just really difficult to say goodbye to them so quickly.” She paid tribute to her “amazing” friend Jordanna. “She was really pretty and she was just so talented and it’s just not fair.”
Another classmate, Lucy Turton, said: “Even the teachers are devastated, as you can imagine. It’s just so hard on everyone, even those who didn’t know them that well.”
The headteacher said counsellors and priests were supporting the pupils. “They were all known as they were the sorts of students who you couldn’t help notice around the school building every day,” Rebecca Staples said. “We can’t plan to the future, we can only plan to tomorrow. We will try and get through this together.
“They were lovely, wonderful, lively young people and they were admired by others. The students are devastated – there isn’t a right way to cope is there? For many of them this is the first time they have lost someone they have cared for. It will be one step at a time. We will get them back to some form of normality.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Staples said: “We can’t begin to say how devastated we are, this is a great shock and a great loss to all of us. Everybody hurts in the same way … whether they are staff or students, the pain is going to be colossal. They were the sort of people other students looked up to. They are significant losses in our schools.”
The headteacher described how the school was struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. “Books of condolence have been opened since yesterday when students started coming in to be together and pay tribute to these youngsters,” she said. “Candles were lit last night and will be lit again today … Flowers are gathering around us as people are trying to find ways to express what they are feeling. Everything we can do we are doing to try to support the students and the siblings who have lost their loved ones.
“Nobody is going to understand why this could possibly have happened to these wonderful young people. But we have to find some words to help people through this. And we have to be able to help people express those feelings. That’s why it’s so important to have counsellors here to support people as they begin to find ways to grieve.”
Friends of the victims as well as parents and teachers lay flowers on a grass bank outside the school on Monday morning. One card read: “Jordanna and Megan – two both stunning girls taken too soon. Both will be missed by many forever in everyone’s heart.”
Staples paid tribute to the victims individually. “Blake was a talented footballer and a lively personality, and although Bartek [Bartosz] had already left us he was still very much part of the school community,” she said. “Jordanna had never missed a day of school and this will be the first time she isn’t here – everyone is devastated.”
Staples said she could not imagine the pain of the victims’ families: “ I can’t imagine how hard this Christmas will be other than just a time to get through.”
South Yorkshire police believe a third car, a black Vauxhall Corsa, may also have been involved in the incident on Saturday.
A 21-year-old man from Doncaster, who was driving the Corsa, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released on bail while police continue their investigation.
Officers believe the five teenagers in the Toyota had met up with the Corsa driver at a McDonald’s restaurant in Doncaster. Both vehicles were heading away from the area at the time of the crash but the Corsa was not involved in the collision.
The crash happened just 100 metres from the scene of another in 2011, in which three teenagers were killed.
In January 2011, three teenagers aged 14, 15 and 16, died after their car hit a tree just a short distance from the site of this weekend’s crash. Faded memorials from that tragedy are still visible on a nearby tree.
