• Four Marquette students and another college student got in a car accident on the way to Tuesday's inauguration
• A semitrailer struck the car on the Ohio turnpike Sunday morning
• The victims sustained various injuries, one requiring spinal surgery
• All students remain in good condition

A car accident prevented four Marquette students and one other college student from attending President Barack Obama's inauguration. The students were taken to the hospital after a semitrailer hit their car on the Ohio Turnpike Sunday morning.

"I was sleeping when it started to happen," a College of Arts & Sciences senior said. "But I woke up when the car started to spin out of control."

The accident occurred near Norwalk, Ohio.

She said the spinning car ended up in the middle of the road when the semitrailer struck their vehicle near the car's right tail light. She said she escaped injury since she was on the car's opposite side.

But the other passengers sustained various injuries.

Another College of Arts & Sciences senior lost teeth and got stitches in her mouth. A sophomore in the College of Health Sciences suffered a skull fracture and a cut on her forehead. A sophomore in the College of Communication sustained broken ribs, a fractured hip and was airlifted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago for spinal surgery Tuesday. And an Illinois Wesleyan University freshman received stitches in the back of his head.

The students are in good condition, with the College of Communication sophomore remaining in the hospital for about another week after a successful surgery.