Four students who died when a vehicle crashed into a building in Colchester have been named by police.
Essex Police said a car, with three men and a woman inside, collided with a building in Magdalen Street shortly before 4.40am on Saturday.
Makyle Bayley, 22, Eva Darold-Tchikaya, 21, Anthony Hibbert, 24, and Daljang Wol, 22, died at the scene of the crash.
Our whole University is in mourning for Makyle, Eva, Anthony and Daljang.
They touched the lives of so many of us. Our thoughts are with everyone who knew them.
If you need support please get in touch with our team: https://t.co/T2vmSvnK2f pic.twitter.com/4M3xlPglxl
— University of Essex (@Uni_of_Essex) February 2, 2025
All four were students at the University of Essex, police said.
University of Essex acting vice-chancellor Professor Maria Fasli said the students “played an active role in our community through clubs and societies” and had “young lives filled with hope, promise, talent, and dreams for the future”.
In a statement, Professor Fasli added: “Anthony and Daljang were outstanding members of our Essex Rebels men’s basketball 1st team, Makyle was a talented basketball player who was a member of our BUCS basketball team and Eva undertook several roles in our Essex Blades Dance Club and was active in many other clubs and societies.
“Their loss will be felt by their families and closest friends and by all our university community. In classrooms, in halls, in shared moments of laughter and learning – they were part of us, and their absence will be felt profoundly.”
Professor Fasli said the university would share details in the coming days of “a time and place for our university community to gather in remembrance”.
In a statement, the University of Essex said: “Our whole university is in mourning for Makyle Bayley, Eva Darold-Tchikaya, Anthony Hibbert and Daljang Wol.
“They touched the lives of so many of us at Essex; their friends, classmates, the teams they played for, and the staff with whom they spent time.
“It is impossible to imagine the loss being felt by their families and many friends. Our thoughts are with everyone who knew them at this terrible time.”
Temporary assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said: “I want to extend my condolences to the friends and family of Makyle, Eva, Anthony, and Daljang.
“This will be an incredibly difficult time for them and we have specialist officers supporting them.
“Our specialist Serious Collision Investigation Unit is investigating what led up to the collision but at this stage we do not believe any other vehicles were involved.”
Essex Police asked anyone who saw a black Ford Focus being driven along Magdalen Street or in the near vicinity around the time of the crash, or have any CCTV, dash-cam or doorbell footage, to contact them.
The force said people can get in touch by quoting incident 179 of February 1 to police or by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers.