A memorial has been set up at the intersection of Gordon Drive and Cook Road after three Kelowna students died in a car accident, May 26, 2021.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The community has set up a memorial for three Kelowna students who died in a car crash yesterday.

The three Kelowna Secondary School students died after their vehicle left the road at the Gordon Drive and Cook Road intersection in Kelowna.

READ MORE: 3 Kelowna students killed in early morning car crash

KSS Grade 12 student Ayla Maxfield, who paid her respects with flowers at the memorial site, said she was pretty shaken up following the accident and only attended school for a bit yesterday before leaving.

The students were in her graduating class, she said.

“They were the nicest people that I knew, I love them so much,” said KSS graduate Tianna Parton. “I feel devastated.”

A memorial has been set up at the intersection of Gordon Drive and Cook Road after three Kelowna students died in a car accident, May 26, 2021.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Just after midnight yesterday, May 26, RCMP and B.C. Ambulance paramedics responded to the single vehicle collision.

Officers arrived to find an extensively damaged black Honda Civic sedan with three occupants.

The 18-year-old female driver, the 18-year-old male passenger and the 17-year-old female passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, RCMP said.

Students, teachers and other community members offered their respects for the students at the crash site by laying candles, flowers and messages along a fence.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said in an Instagram story yesterday this is the time to support one another.

"As a parent, getting that call in the middle of the night is your worst nightmare. Now these three families are living that nightmare," Basran said in the post. "So I'd ask that you please do what you can to send your love and strength and support to help them through this incredibly difficult time."

MP Dan Albas also offered his condolences to KSS students, faculty and the family members who have been affected by the loss.

“When a tragedy happens, it reminds us all how precious and fragile our lives are and how interconnected our communities have become,” he wrote on Facebook.

A memorial has been set up at the intersection of Gordon Drive and Cook Road after three Kelowna students died in a car accident, May 26, 2021.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

MP Tracy Gray and Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick also offered their condolences to the families of the victims, as well as students and staff at KSS.

On Facebook, the Kelowna community has also offered messages of support to the families affected, with one post in the Kelowna Alert group gathering more than 300 reactions and 100 comments.

“Our whole community extends our deepest condolences to the students' families, our thoughts are first with them, and we will support them in any way we can. We are all deeply saddened by this loss, and our thoughts are especially with the students and staff at KSS, who have just lost three students, classmates, and graduates,” said said Central Okanagan Public Schools superintendent Kevin Kaardal.

The District's Post-Critical Incident Response Team was on site yesterday to support the students and staff at KSS and continued supports will be in place for as long as the school needs it, he said.

“We thank the community at large for their understanding and continued support during this difficult time."

A memorial has been set up at the intersection of Gordon Drive and Cook Road after three Kelowna students died in a car accident, May 26, 2021.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

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