Two JMU students remain hospitalized after crash that killed 3

Three of their James Madison University classmates died Thursday when their vehicle struck a tree

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Two James Madison University students remained hospitalized Saturday with serious injuries after a single-vehicle crash earlier in the week that killed three of their classmates, the school said.

The public university in Harrisonburg, Va., is mourning those who died in the crash Thursday night in West Virginia and rallying to support the two who were injured. “Both are still considered to be in critical/serious condition,” a JMU spokeswoman said in a text message.

The five students, all 19 years old, had been on an excursion in Hardy County, W.Va., before the crash, according to the county sheriff’s office. The vehicle was heading south on Route 259, toward their campus in the Shenandoah Valley, when it veered off the road and struck a tree. The sheriff’s office had no immediate update Saturday on the investigation.

The university identified those who died as sophomores John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman, both of Richmond, and Joshua Mardis, of Williamsburg. The injured students have not been identified.

A chapter of the Pi Beta Chi fraternity at JMU posted a statement of mourning on Instagram. “Our hearts are broken for these young men, their families, their home communities, and for everyone here at JMU whose lives they touched,” it said. “We hope that you will keep all five of these families in your hearts.”

The statement added: “We will miss these three men more than we can express and we are hopeful for the speedy and full recovery of our other friends.”

JMU has about 20,000 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students.