Two women killed in head-on collision identified as 19-year-old South Carolina National Guard soldiers

Two South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers have been identified as the victims of a fatal crash in the town of Union. 

Authorities named 19-year-olds Spc. Kristal Lopez and Spc. Carol Santiago-Santiago as the deceased on Tuesday. 

The crash occurred on Jonesville Lockhart Highway or Highway 9 around 4:10 pm on March 16.

Lopez was driving a Sedan car with Santiago as a passenger, when they collided with a pick-up truck.

Santiago, from Lancaster, died at the scene.

Spc. Carol Santiago-Santiago, 19, was rushed to hospital where she died a week later 

The crash occurred on Jonesville Lockhart Highway or Highway 9 around 4:10 pm on March 16

Lopez, who was rushed to hospital, died a week later on March 23 at Spartanburg Regional.

The crash is being investigated by local police. 

Santiago was a human resources specialist assigned to the 228th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, according to the National Guard.

She had recently received the Army Service Ribbon for completing initial entry training. 

Lopez, also from Lancaster, was a paralegal specialist assigned to the 228th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade. 

‘The South Carolina National Guard is in mourning today,’ the National Guard said in a statement. 

‘We have lost not one but two of our family members with Spc. Kristal Lopez’s passing.

‘There is no way to reconcile such a loss,’ it read.

Adding: ‘Please keep the Lopez and Santiago families in your thoughts and prayers.’ said Maj. Gen. Van McCarty, adjutant general, South Carolina.