A Tulane University student was killed after two tires flew off from an 18-wheeler Tuesday.
Margaret Maurer, originally from Forest Lake, Minnesota, was with her friends at a rest stop in Mississippi before the tires hit her, their car and another vehicle, Fox News reported Wednesday. The rest stop was on Interstate 10 eastbound in Gautier, Mississippi and the tractor-trailer was headed westbound.
Tulane student killed by tire remembered as an extraordinary person https://t.co/48yq460Mro
— WLOX (@WLOX) March 6, 2019
The wheels traveled between 850 and 875 feet since breaking off the truck, according to WLOX. They traveled another 100 to 150 feet after striking Mauer. The two wheels weighed about 1,000 pounds.
“We’re just heartbroken,” Tracy Nelson, Maurer’s mother, said.
It is unclear why the wheels flew off the truck. The driver knew he lost the wheels, but did not know what happened afterwards.
Investigation is ongoing.
Maurer is 21-years-old, The Associated Press reported.
She was part of the Class of 2019 and studied Environmental Biology, according to Tulane’s website.
Maurer wanted to go into scientific illustration after graduating from the university in May, WLOX reported.
“She was just a go-getter, and in my ecology class, she was by far the top student in the class, just eclipsed the other students,” Tulane ecology professor Thomas Sherry said.
Gautier is more than 100 miles away from New Orleans in Louisiana.
Tulane did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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