Three UCSD students died over spring break — two in a car crash on Genesee Avenue and one in a skiing accident.
Thurgood Marshall College seniors Sachin Shah and Anish Dhingra were killed in a car accident at 2:35 a.m. on April 1. The two, along with a third passenger who sustained minor injuries, were traveling northbound in a 2001 BMW sedan on Genesee Avenue at a high speed, according to the San Diego Police Department. Dhingra, the driver, then lost control of the car and crashed into the center divider.
Dhingra died upon impact of the crash, which flipped the car into a tree and threw Shah out of the car. Shah, who was not wearing a seat belt, died instantly, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The third crash victim was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital. The crash occurred in front of University City High School, which closed the route in both directions for about six hours.
Earl Warren College sophomore Benjamin Sumner passed away from injuries sustained in a skiing accident. Sumner, who served as the A.S. academic affairs chief of staff, collided with a tree at the Northstar Resort at Tahoe, located in Truckee, Calif.
Warren sophomore Daniel Palay, who was vacationing with Sumner at the time, discovered him in a forest area. Sumner was declared dead at about 2 p.m., according to the San Jose Mercury News. He was not wearing a helmet.
Sumner and his friends began skiing and headed to the Martis Run at Lookout Mountain at around 10:30 a.m. However, Sumner skied ahead of the group.
“It was a freak accident,” Palay told the Mercury News.
Sumner was double-majoring in computer science and philosophy, with a minor in international studies.
“Ben was truly one of the most endearing spirits,” Barbara Simmons, Sumner’s counselor and mentor at Bellarmine High School, told the Mercury News. “He was one of the kindest, wisest souls of any of the students I’ve counseled in over two decades of counseling, prodigious in all that he did. He was a tremendous asset to our campus for his work on the yearbook.”
