Published August 25, 2004

WESTMORE — Two teenagers were killed in a one-car accident on Route 5A on the edge of Lake Willoughby Tuesday afternoon.  A third, who was driving the car, was taken to North Country Hospital in Newport, where he was treated and released, according to State Police Sergeant Darren Annis.

State Police would not release the names of the occupants of the car Tuesday because they are juveniles, Sergeant Kevin Charboneau said as he left the scene.  Sergeant Darren Annis added that the case could end up in court.

The driver of the car was a 14-year-old boy from Maryland, Sergeant Annis said late Tuesday night.  The passengers were 16 and 17 years old.  Both were from Orleans.  They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The teenagers were traveling south along Lake Willoughby at a high rate of speed, Sergeant Annis said.  The driver lost control at the top of a knoll where the road bends slightly to the left.  The car hit the ledge on the east side of the road, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah, and flipped onto its roof.

The driver was wearing a seat belt, according to the sergeant, but his passengers were not.

The 1994 Toyota Celica was totaled.  It was equipped with airbags, which did not deploy because there was not a front impact, said Sergeant Annis.

The driver was out of the car, sitting on a guardrail shortly after the crash, according to one bystander who came across the scene shortly after the accident.  The bystander said the driver was speaking, but seemed to be in shock.

When the bystander asked the teenager what happened, he replied, “They’re dead,”  she said.

She said when she looked into the car, she knew immediately the passengers were dead.

The car had to be turned upright in order to get the victims out.  It was then that at least one was identified.