HAMILTON ? Four young people were killed early Friday when the car they were in missed a curve east of Hamilton in southeast Kansas and hit several trees.

Kansas Highway Patrol Lt. John Eichkorn said speed and alcohol apparently played a role in the crash. It happened sometime after midnight just west of the Greenwood-Woodson county line.

Wesley Key, 15, left, David Stiffler, 15, and Meg McEwen, 14, mourn at the scene of the car accident near Hamilton that killed four of their friends. Jesse Rhodes, Deborah Rhodes, Evan Olson and Andrew Brewer, all died Friday after the car they were in missed a curve and hit several trees.

The patrol identified the victims as Andrew Brewer, 23, of Virgil, who was driving; Deborah Rhodes, 19, of Hamilton; her brother, Jesse Rhodes, 15, also of Hamilton; and Evan Olson, 16, of Madison.

None of the victims was wearing a seat belt, and one of the passengers was thrown from the car.

Evan Olson was a student at Madison High School. Jesse Rhodes, who played football for Hamilton High School earlier this season, transferred this week to Madison High. Deborah Rhodes graduated last year from Hamilton High. Brewer graduated from Madison High School.

Classes weren’t in session Friday at Hamilton High, but the school was opened so students could gather and talk about the victims, principal Bud Stapp said. He had placed several yearbooks in classrooms for students to look through.

“They’re all good kids,” Stapp said. “We are just going to feel the loss.”

He said several neighboring school districts had offered to send counselors to talk to the victims’ mourning classmates. The handful of students who had arrived at the high school Friday morning were in shock, Stapp said.

“You get this many kids in one vehicle, it’s just terrible in any community, large or small.”