Thurgood Marshall College freshman Sheila Lau was killed and eight other students sustained minor injuries in a rollover car crash at the start of President’s Day weekend.

The accident occurred Feb. 19 at approximately 1 a.m. as the nine students were returning westbound on Highway 52 from purchasing milk tea at Tapioca Express in San Diego. The 1999 Ford Explorer sports utility vehicle driven by John Muir College freshman Mimi Tran swerved suddenly, causing the car to flip, according to Muir freshman Derek Nguyen, who was sitting in the middle row of seats directly behind the driver and sustained minor injuries.

“It just happened too suddenly,” said Nguyen, explaining that it was not clear what caused Tran to lose control.

As she moved into the left lane, Tran said the wheels of the vehicle, which belonged to a friend, began to shake and banked to the right. When she tried to compensate, the Explorer swerved sharply to the left and eventually flipped.

“I think it was a combination of the speed and having so many people in the car,” Tran said.

Traffic on the road was light, according to Nguyen, and alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

Lau was seated in the front passenger seat and was wearing her seat belt, according to Nguyen. However, not all of the passengers were buckled in.

“There were nine people in the car,” he said. “How could we all be wearing seat belts?”

Emergency personnel arrived on the scene within minutes of the accident and the students were transported to various medical centers around the county.

Lau suffered a brain hemorrhage at the scene and then a second hemorrhage at Sharp Hospital, where she was taken in an ambulance, according to Tran.

“Originally, when I called her brother … he said that she was out of critical condition,” she said. “We didn’t think it was as serious as it was.”

Tran and Lau’s family waited in the hospital as she moved in and out of critical condition, suffering from inflated blood and brain pressures. Doctors pronounced her dead Feb. 20 at approximately 2:47 p.m.

“I’m just extremely saddened by this loss,” Marshall Dean of Student Affairs Ashanti Houston Hands said.

The campus community has come together to help Lau’s friends and family cope with the tragedy, she said, explaining that the college chose not to distribute a wide announcement because of the personal nature of the loss.

Tran said the two had become friends after Lau moved to California from Malaysia with her mother.

“She was the type of person who was always happy,” Tran said. “She would go out of the way to just make everyone laugh.”

Lau’s family is certain that she has passed to a better place, Tran said.

“The Marshall community is quite upset — in particular the young women who are friends [of Lau] — and Marshall College is providing services to those students,” Marshall Provost Cecil W. Lytle said. “The staff reacted very supportively to the family, making arrangements with the family.”

In addition, students have been helping Lau’s friends deal with the death, according to Lytle.

“The students have been compassionate and helpful as well,” he said.

Though Nguyen said he declined counseling, other friends have been receiving support from the campus’ Psychological and Counseling Services.

“We have provided both immediate support counseling and crisis intervention,” said PCS counselor Jeanne Manese, who has been working with several of Lau’s friends at Marshall. “I think that the outpouring of support and compassion from everyone that I’ve had interaction with, including students, [was] just really amazing.”

Nguyen said he joined many of her friends in attendance at a Los Angeles-area memorial reception on Feb. 26.

Students may also be planning a campus memorial, according to Houston Hands.