Car accident kills 5 Korea Univ. students on way to ski resort

Firefighters are extinguishing the car after nearby witnesses made a report that a vehicle was on fire on Sunday. (Gangwon Fire Headquarters)

Five university students were killed in a single-vehicle accident after the car crashed and caught fire in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, on early Sunday morning.

The students -- believed to be one female and four male students, all in their 20s -- were from Korea University, the school confirmed after the incident. They were also reportedly members of the Korea University Ski Team Association, a union ski club consisting of nearly 40 Korean universities.

According to fire authorities and police, a report was made 1:23 a.m. on Sunday that an SUV had struck a guardrail at an intersection in Yongsan-ri, Daegwallyeong-myeon in Pyeongchang, and later caught on fire, engulfing the vehicle.

Firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene and the fire crew extinguished the fire in 20 minutes, but all five were found dead.

The vehicle students rode to Pyeongchang belonged to one of their parents, according to police.

The students were reportedly on their way to a nearby ski resort and visited the place earlier last month for their winter training session, police said.

Police are identifying the deceased and will request a DNA analysis from the National Forensic Service since the bodies were severely burnt in the accident.

Police said they would conduct further investigation using CCTV footage and black box data of vehicles to determine the exact cause of the accident. They added that they would also look into whether the students were driving under the influence.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)