4 teen boys found dead in car after going missing during camping trip in Wales

A town in Wales is reeling after four teen boys were discovered dead in an overturned and partly submerged car after they had set out on a camping trip.

Police are now investigating how the vehicle, carrying schoolmates Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris, ended up in a river while on their way to a camping trip in Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia.

It’s believed the boys, all between the ages of 16 and 18 and from Shrewsbury, U.K., were last seen on Sunday morning and were reported missing Monday evening when they failed to return home.

After a tipoff from a member of the public, police found the Ford Fiesta they had been travelling in overturned in a river about eight kilometres from the town of Porthmadog, where they were last seen two days earlier.

Owain Llewellyn, superintendent of North Wales Police, called the incident “tragic,” explaining that it’s believed the vehicle ran off a steep and narrow winding road.

“This appears to have been a tragic accident, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the four young men at this very difficult time,” Llewellyn said in his statement.

“This has been an extensive search involving a number of different agencies and volunteers, and this is sadly not the outcome that any of us would have wanted,” he continued. “We would ask that the family be afforded the appropriate privacy and respect.”