Mapleton, OR : Weston Bowman, 16, and Abigail Boydston, 17, killed and three other Mapleton High School students injured in car crash on Oregon 126 near Florence on Thursday morning, November 6, 2014

Two Mapleton High School students died and three others were injured in a crash on Highway 126 on Thursday morning, Oregon State Police said. Emergency crews found the car on its top down an embankment off the highway around 7 a.m. Abigail Boydston, 17, of Noti and Weston Bowman, 16, of Mapleton died at the scene. Three other students in the car suffered injuries. Their identities are not yet known. Troopers said grief counselors were available at the high school. Word spread quickly in the small Coast Range community located along the Siuslaw River, west of Florence. "It's a real loss," said Mike Goodman, manager of Pop's Gingerbread Smokehouse. Goodman said the students involved stopped by weekly for breakfast. "It's a real tight knit community and everyone knows everyone," he said, "so yeah, we knew them." The Oregon DOT said the deaths brought to 10 the number of people who have died in crashes on Hwy 126 between Eugene and Florence. There were 9 fatalities total between 2009 and 2013. “A six year average of one crash every three-and-a-half days; one person injured every four days; and a fatal crash every four months; is not acceptable,” said Sonny Chickering, ODOT Region 2 Manager. Chickering said his agency would be ramping up public safety efforts on Hwy 126 in response to the deaths. Hwy 126 was closed east of Mapleton while police investigated the crash. One lane opened to traffic about 6 hours after the crash. A second crash involving a log truck happened near the first crash, Oregon DOT said. The two crashes were not related. A detour is available via Highway 36, although motorists are urged to use caution near Swisshome at milepost 8 where a car got stuck in the mud. The crashes on Hwy 126 were at mileposts 15 and 16. Source : 2 students killed, 3 injured in crash near Mapleton