Tragedy Claims North Manchester Students
NORTH MANCHESTER — Three North Manchester University students were returning from Ball State and Taylor University Sunday morning, Feb. 21, when their lives were cut short by a tragic accident.
Nerad Grace Mangai, Brook M. Dagnew and Kirubel Alemayehu Hailu were killed in the accident, according to a press release from North Manchester University President, Dave McFadden. Israel Solomon Tamire, another student of MU, is reported to be at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne being treated for his injuries. Three other students, Nebiyu Shiferaw Alemu, Amanuel Atsbha Gebreyohannes and Dagmawi Meseret Tadesse, were not injured and have returned to North Manchester.
According to a report on WANE TV, the accident occurred around 5:20 a.m. on northbound I-69 at the 253 mile marker near the Delaware County Line. Police report the students were traveling in a passenger van that had, what appeared to be a flat tire. The van was partially off the road, toward the median and the students were outside the van, three of the seven were near the rear and four were along the driver’s side.
Police said another passenger van, driven by DeAngelo Evans, 26, was northbound on I-69, left the road and went into the median, hitting four of the students. He was taken to a hospital in Marion where he was treated for minor injuries and released to police.
Evans is facing three counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, one count of operating while intoxicated resulting in serious bodily injury and three counts of reckless homicide. His bond was set at $300,005 surety.
All of the students are from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, except for Nerad, a sophomore biology-chemistry major from Jos, Nigeria. Brook was a sophomore majoring in biology-chemistry and Kirubel was a first-year medical technology major.
A gathering took place last night, Feb. 21, at Petersime Chapel, for students, faculty and staff and was led by Walt Wiltschek, campus pastor. According to the release, MU anticipates a memorial service in the near future.