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7 College Students Die in North Carolina Fire

University of Southern Carolina mourns Ocean Beach loss

By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 28, 2007 10:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – Seven college students perished in an Ocean Beach, NC, house fire this morning, six of them from the University of Southern Carolina, one from Clemson University. There were 13 college students in the house when the fire broke out. Six were hospitalized, including one who jumped from the house, which was raised on stilts, into a waterway, according to Debbie Smith, the mayor of Ocean Isle Beach. 

The blaze, which started around 7am, left the waterfront home almost completely incinerated, the Myrtle Beach Sun News reports. Smith said the fire's cause was still unknown. A newspaper deliveryman saw smoke rising from the building while on his route, and called 911. The private home was being used by the owner's daughter and a group of her friends, Smith said. Several dozen college students were staying at a few homes on the block, two blocks from the beach.

Locates Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., site of beach house fire; 1c x 3 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 88.9 mm
Locates Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., site of beach house fire; 1c x 3 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 88.9 mm   (Associated Press)
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at a beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fire crews were still on the scene Sunday evening investigating the fire.  (AP Photo/Jason E. Miczek)
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at a beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fire crews were still on the scene Sunday evening investigating the fire. (AP Photo/Jason E....   (Associated Press)
Firefighters work at the scene of a beach house that burned and resulted in multiple fatalities in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007.  (AP Photo/Logan Wallace)
Firefighters work at the scene of a beach house that burned and resulted in multiple fatalities in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Logan Wallace)   (Associated Press)
A firefighter looks at the burned remains of a beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fire crews were still on the scene Sunday evening investigating the fire.  (AP Photo/Jason E. Miczek).
A firefighter looks at the burned remains of a beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fire crews were still on the scene Sunday evening investigating the fire. (AP Photo/Jason...   (Associated Press)
University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen looks on during a news conference Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Columbia, S.C. about the deaths of six University of South Carolina students and one Clemson University student in a beach house fire in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.  (AP Photo/Mary Ann...
University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen looks on during a news conference Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Columbia, S.C. about the deaths of six University of South Carolina students and one...   (Associated Press)
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