ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Three American students were killed on Saturday (May 12) in a car crash near the town of Taupo in a rural area of New Zealand's North Island.
Five others were injured and taken to hospital, one of whom is listed as being in a critical condition.
The students were all from Boston University and had been studying in New Zealand since January on an exchange programme to Auckland.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROAD POLICING MANAGER, NEW ZEALAND POLICE, KEVIN TAYLOR, SAYING: (PART OVERLAID WITH SCENE OF CRASH)
"The wheels have touched the gravel. The driver has then overcorrected, and regrettably, the vehicle's going into a bit of a roll and has rolled over and thrown a number of students out of the van."
Two rescue helicopters were used to transport paramedics to the scene, and to airlift the injured to hospital.
The students were only minutes away from reaching their intended destination at the Central Plateau.
They'd planned to walk the picturesque Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a volcanic landscape popular with hikers.
New Zealand police named those killed as Daniela Rosanna Lekhno, Roch Jauberty, and Austin Brashears.
