Marshall classmates mourn 3 Nepal natives who died in crash

Brashant Saingu and his buddies were watching movies in his apartment in Marshall, Minn., on Monday night when the phone call came, delivering grim news:

Utshav Basnet, a college classmate and close friend from Nepal, had been badly injured in a two-car accident a few hours earlier near St. James.

"At the time, we didn't have a feeling that it would be this bad," said Saingu, a sophomore at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

Later that night, Saingu and friends learned the worst -- Basnet, 19, and two other classmates from Nepal, Nishma Timilsina and Bedija Kharel, both 20, had died in the accident, which occurred as the three were heading back to campus from Albert Lea, where they had gone to visit a friend over the holiday.

The State Patrol said the accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. Monday when the car the students were riding in, driven by Rachel Thompson, 17, of Clarks Grove, Minn., was hit broadside by another vehicle as Thompson tried to make a U-turn on a two-lane highway south of St. James.

Basnet, Timilsina and Kharel, sitting in the back seat, weren't wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said. Timilsina and Kharel were thrown from the car and died there. Basnet died several hours later.

As of Tuesday night, the State Patrol was still trying to determine how the students knew Thompson and another passenger in the car. Saingu, however, said Thompson was related to the friend whom the students were visiting.

Thompson, along with the other passenger, Jeremy Dorpinghaus, 27, of Forest City, Iowa, were in fair condition Tuesday night at a hospital in Mankato. Both had been wearing seat belts, the patrol said.

The driver of the other car, Leroy Sydness, 82, of Jackson, Minn., was in good condition in a hospital in Madelia, a hospital spokeswoman said. Sydness had been wearing a seat belt, and had been protected by an air bag that had deployed.

Although the accident occured during the university's winter break -- spring semester starts Jan. 18 -- most of the students from Nepal were still on or around campus Tuesday.

About 225 of the 3,800 students enrolled at Southwest Minnesota State are from foreign countries. Of those, 95 are from Nepal.

As news of the accident spread, many of the students from Nepal gathered at the office of Sandy Nelson, the school's international student services coordinator, to console one another and make plans to raise money for the victims' families to help them take their loved ones home.

"We are just trying to help them best we can," said Anil Singh, 19, a sophomore who knew all three students.

Singh said he met Basnet and Timilsina on the plane when he left Nepal for the United States a year ago. They became fast friends.

He described Basnet as a bright, outgoing freshman who always wore a smile and dreamed of becoming a doctor.

He said Kharel, a sophomore, was "funny" and "curious" and loved to dance. "She had lots of friends," he said.

And he remembered Timilsina, who lived with Kharel, as "a sweet girl who was good at talking with people." He said she planned to pursue a business degree, but did not enroll in classes last semester because of financial difficulties.

Greg Wymer, assistant director of International Student Services at Southwest State, said that only a month ago he spoke with Basnet's parents while attending a seminar in Nepal.

"They were just beaming with pride about their son," he said.

He said that when he returned from the trip, Kharel and Timilsina stopped at his office to see his photos.

Road was wet

Mike DeJong, a State Patrol investigator, said the accident occurred at 2:25 p.m. at the intersection of Hwy. 4 and Watonwan County Road 10 south of St. James.

Thompson was driving south on the two-lane highway when she pulled off on the right shoulder to make a U-turn, DeJong said. After one car passed, she pulled onto the highway and attempted to turn when her car was hit broadside.

DeJong said that the road was wet and that there had been a slight mist at the time of the accident. However, he said visibility was not an issue. Alcohol also was not a factor, he said.

Meanwhile, friends of the students who died talked Tuesday of hosting a memorial service.

"You don't ever expect it to happen to someone that you know," said Sandy Nelson.

Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425