VERONA — Six Bowling Green State University students returning from a spring break trip were killed Friday night in a crash along Interstate 71. Classes at the campus resume Monday.

        The female students, all 19 years old, were returning from Panama City, Fla., when the minivan they were traveling in crossed the median and hit a tractor-trailer, authorities said.

        The accident occurred about four miles south of the split with I-75 in southern Boone County.

        Grief counselors at their northern Ohio school of 20,000 students were prepared to talk to students about the tragedy.

        The women lived in Founders Hall, a co-ed dormitory. Five lived in the same suite.

        “This is devastating. I'm a mother. I have a 19-year-old son. I can't imagine the grief,” said Kim McBroom, the university's spokeswoman.

        The women left Panama City on Thursday, according to Boone County officials. About 9 p.m. their Pontiac minivan entered Boone County, encountering high winds and heavy rain.

        Driver Jessica R. Hedlund,a sophomore from Perrysburg, Ohio, lost control of the van. It left the northbound lanes, careened into the median, spun around and zoomed into opposing southbound lanes, said Maj. Jack Banks of the Boone County Sheriff's Department.

        One tractor-trailer swerved out of the minivan's way. Another semi, driven by James D. Walls, 36, of Dubois, Ind., slammed into the minivan's left passenger side.

        Mr. Walls was hauling a cargo of books. The impact crushed the front of his truck at least a foot and caused contents of the van — the women's pillows, luggage and cooler — to fly across the highway.

        The women — Ms. Hedlund; Michelle Saunders of Huron, Ohio; Sara Jean McCarthy of Brook Park, Ohio; Ryan Leigh Foss of Huron; Andrea A. Bakker of Strongsville, Ohio; and Jacqueline E. Ahlers of Vandalia, Ohio — were pronounced dead at the scene.

        Miss Saunders was a freshman. The other five were sophomores. All were wearing seat belts.

        “This is the worst crash that I have seen in my recent memory because of the ages involved and the trauma that the people in the vehicles suffered,” Maj. Banks said. “At 19 years old, you're still a kid.”

        Mr. Walls was treated for minor leg injuries at St. Luke Hospital West in Florence and released.

        Maj. Banks said an investigation into the cause of the accident will continue.

        It was the third fatal crash within seven days involving Ohio university students.

        On March 9, a crash claimed the life of Margaret E. Gutzwiller, 19, a 2000 Roger Bacon High School graduate.

        The Tiffin University student was a passenger in a car that crashed along Interstate 65 in Tennessee. Elizabeth Snyder, 20, of Tipp City, also died.

        Also that day, Capital University students Ryan Hudson, 21, of Canal Fulton, and Bryan Starkey, 20, of Wellston, died after their car went over a boat ramp and into an eastern Ohio reservoir. They were trapped in the back seat.

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