Three teenagers were killed Friday when they were ejected from a van near Safford in eastern Arizona.

They were high school students riding in a van owned by Eastern Arizona College, returning from a hot rod event in Chandler, according to DPS Captain Jesse Galvez.

"I don’t know what the weather was at that time, but talking to investigators, it didn’t seem to pop up. It didn’t seem to be talked about," Galvez said. "It’s just a tragic event in that we have three high school students that lost their lives. They’re young. This is a small, tight community."

Galvez said six other passengers received non-life-threatening injuries.