Counsellors help grieving Kelowna, B.C., students deal with loss of three classmates

Members of a critical incident response team are working at a Kelowna, B.C., high school helping students cope with the loss of three Grade 12 classmates.

The three Kelowna Senior Secondary students were in a Honda Civic sedan that RCMP say hit a utility pole in the city just after midnight Wednesday.

An 18-year-old woman who was driving and two passengers, an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, died at the scene.

The three were set to graduate within weeks and School District 23 Superintendent Kevin Kardaal says a specialized team of grief counsellors is at the school.

He says students and staff are being offered support as they deal with shock and grief. Const. Solana Pare says police remained at the crash scene for much of Wednesday trying to determine exactly what happened.