20-year-old college student from Aquinnah one of four killed in fiery Maine car crash

Zane Razzaq, Cape Cod Times
·3 min read
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EDITOR'S NOTE: A correction was made on Dec. 12, 2022, to the attribution for the statement from Martha's Vineyard Regional High School.

A 20-year-old man from Martha's Vineyard was among four Maine Maritime Academy students killed in a fiery, early morning car crash that also left a North Falmouth woman injured.

The crash occurred around 2:07 a.m. on Saturday after the last day of undergraduate courses for the semester. A car carrying seven Maine Maritime Academy students traveling south on Shore Road (Route 166) in Castine, the coastal town where the college is located, left the road and hit a tree, according to a press release from Maine State Police.

The 2013 Range Rover erupted into flames, said Maine State Police.

Four Maine Maritime students were killed and three injured in a fiery one-car crash in Maine early Saturday.
Four Maine Maritime students were killed and three injured in a fiery one-car crash in Maine early Saturday.

Riley Ignacio-Cameron, of Aquinnah, was among the cadets killed. The other students who died in the crash were: Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Brian Kenealy, 20, of York, Maine, and Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner, Maine.

Three other people survived the crash and were transported to local hospitals for non-life threatening injuries. They include Noelle Tavares, 20, of North Falmouth, Dominick Gecoya, 20, of Middleton, and the driver, Joshua Goncalves-Radding, 20, of North Babylon, New York.

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Ignacio-Cameron was a 2020 graduate of Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. His pencil drawing of a boat was one of the projects included in the school's online arts showcase. He attended the charter school through eighth grade.

In a statement to the Times, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Assistant Principal Jeremy Light said the school community is "devastated by this news and our deepest condolences go out to his loving family."

"He loved basketball and fishing off the Aquinnah shores. He was a very nice and kind young man.  By all accounts, Riley was doing really well and was really happy in his studies at MMA," said Light.

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Adjustment counselors will be available for any of the high school students, said Light, as well as for the class of 2020, who will be coming home soon for the holidays.

Tavares was listed on the 2020 graduation list for Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Bourne.

Maine Maritime Academy is a public, co-educational college with an enrollment of approximately 950 students studying engineering, management, science and transportation, according to the school's website. On Sunday night, the school was scheduled to hold a vigil.

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Maine State Police continue to investigate the collision.

In a statement shared on the college's website, Maine Maritime Academy President Jerry S. Paul said the school will continue to offer counseling support to students, faculty and staff, saying the Maine Maritime community is "grieving for these young lives and for their families."

"While we have lost beloved members of our student body, tonight there are four families who have lost their children," wrote Paul.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Maine Maritime student from Aquinnah one of four killed in car crash