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NJ community grieves after 4 teens killed in crash

LINWOOD, N.J. — A sport utility vehicle carrying eight high school football players on their way to a team meal after practice crashed on a New Jersey highway, killing four players and injuring four, authorities said.

The driver apparently lost control of the SUV on Saturday morning as it went around a crest on the Garden State Parkway and came upon heavy traffic, said Sgt. Julian Castellanos, a state police spokesman. The SUV overturned several times, ejecting two passengers, one of whom was struck by a passing car, Castellanos said.

The driver and two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene; a third passenger died at a hospital. Four others were taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

All eight played for the Mainland Regional High School football team in Linwood and ranged in age from 15 to 17, state police confirmed. Their names weren’t immediately released.

The crash comes just weeks before the school year begins at Mainland Regional, a 1,600-pupil school that pulls students from Linwood, Somers Point and Northfield. School officials didn’t respond to emails and phone messages seeking details on the crash.

Counselors were to be available to students at the high school and a candlelight vigil was planned for Sunday evening, assistant coach Rich Koeppel told the Press of Atlantic City.

The Mainland Mustangs are scheduled to open their season on Sept. 9. In 2008, the team won its first South Jersey Group IV sectional championship, according to the newspaper.