MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Three Columbia University students on a humanitarian mission in Honduras were killed Wednesday when their bus veered off the road and fell at least 260 feet into a ravine near the eastern city of Tegucigalpa, according to Columbia University and reports.
Columbia College student Olivia Erhardt, Barnard College student Daniella Moffson and Abigail Flanagan, a nurse practitioner at Columbia University Medical Center and a General Studies student, all died in the crash, school officials said. Other Columbia students were also injured in the crash, officials said.
All were traveling in Honduras for the Columbia chapter of Global Brigades, a nonprofit that sends groups of student volunteers on seven- to 10-day service trips to Honduras, Ecuador, Panama and Ghana, where the students provide medical and other support to struggling populations.
"This terrible and tragic loss is all the greater because these individuals were dedicating their passion and very special talents to serving those in need," Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger wrote on the university's Facebook page Wednesday evening.
Medical and support personnel from the university were on their way to Honduras to help with the other Columbia students injured in the crash, Bollinger noted, adding that the students who were not badly injured are in the process of coming back to the United States.
It was unclear how many Columbia students were part of the humanitarian mission.
Columbia University did not immediately return a request for more information.
