Barrett Riley, left, and Edgar Monserratt Martinez, right, were killed Tuesday night after the Tesla they were riding in crashed into a concrete wall and burst into flames in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Pine Crest School)
Two Florida high school seniors were killed and one was severely injured Tuesday night when the Tesla they were driving in crashed into a concrete wall and burst into flames, police said.
The vehicle's driver, Barrett Riley, 18, of Fort Lauderdale, and front seat passenger, Edgar Monserratt Martinez, 18, of Aventura, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
A third student, backseat passenger Alexander Barry, 18, of Fort Lauderdale, was reportedly thrown from the car on impact. His condition wasn't immediately clear, but friend George Aloia told WPLG he was "pretty banged up."
The 2014 Tesla Motors Model S was reportedly traveling southbound on Seabreeze Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale when it crashed into a concrete wall and burst into flames. (WSVN)
Fort Lauderdale Police and Fire Rescue responded to the scene around 7 p.m. Tuesday night.
Officials said the men were driving the gray 2014 Tesla Motors Model S southbound on Seabreeze Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale when it drove off the road and crashed into a concrete wall, WSVN reported.
TESLA DRIVER WHO TURNED ON AUTOPILOT, MOVED TO PASSENGER'S SEAT ON HIGHWAY IS BANNED FROM DRIVING
A man who filmed the incident told the news station the car became engulfed in flames, trapping the driver and passenger inside. Officials said that friends of the victims were in a second car traveling behind the Tesla and watched as the scene unfolded.
Aloia, a friend of the victims, said Riley and Martinez "were the best guys. They were full of life. They loved their car — they really did."
Witness Wendy Mascolo, who said she prayed with the men's families, called what happened "absolutely senseless."
"They were supposed to graduate high school next week," Mascolo told WSVN. "It breaks my heart what those kids that all go to that school are going to go through and what these parents — they got the worst call of their life and their lives are never going to be the same."
Another witness, Larry Groshart, said the area where the crash occured is known for speeding and is referred to as "dead man's curve."
"I saw the car coming too fast quietly, but I could hear the tire roar," Groshart told WPLG, adding the Tesla must've been moving around 50 or 60 mph. "[It] bounced off the first wall, side-swiped it, then hit that corner and immediately burst into flames and moved that way, burning all the way, and it never stopped burning until it was burned up."
Mascolo added to WFOR-TV the "speed limit is 30 and even if you come around that curve doing 30, it still is a little too fast," she said. "You hear it all night. It wakes me up in the middle of the night all the time with them speeding."
It's unclear what caused the crash, but police believe speed may have been a factor. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the crash, doesn't believe that the use of autopilot was involved.