A Tulane University student from Forest Lake, Minn., was killed when she was struck by two wheels that flew off a semitrailer truck in Mississippi.

School officials identified the student as Margaret Maurer, 21, a senior studying ecology and evolutionary biology, according to the New Orleans Advocate.

Police in Gautier, Miss., said the 18-wheeler was driving west on Interstate 10 when it lost two wheels, which skipped across the eastbound lanes and into the rest stop, where Maurer and two friends had stopped.

The three were about to get back into their car when the truck tires hit Maurer and smashed into two cars.

Gautier is along the Gulf Coast about 110 miles east of New Orleans, La., where Tulane is located.