Families of Chinese students killed in wreck arrive in Port Angeles

PORT ANGELES — Members of the family of a Chinese student who died in a U.S. Highway 101 collision Saturday conducted a funeral ceremony in Port Angeles on Thursday, and the family of another Chinese student who died in the wreck is expected to arrive today, the State Patrol said.

The family of Chi-Kan Cheung, a 21-year-old man from Hong Kong, planned to fly home Thursday night, State Patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom said.

“Sgt. [Keith] Nestor met with them [on Thursday] afternoon,” Hedstrom said.

“They sat down and talked, and he took them to the collision scene to lay down some flowers.”

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Cheung was driving a Ford Escort, traveling west on the Highway 101 Morse Creek curve east of Port Angeles, the night of the crash. Two other Peninsula College students from China were in the car.

His car crossed the centerline at 10:04 p.m., spun and hit a Ford Focus driven by a Sequim man, who was traveling east. Cheung was apparently traveling too fast, the State Patrol said.

Both Cheung and Duo Li, a 20-year-old woman from Nanning, China who was riding in the back seat, were pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck.

Li’s family was expected to arrive today, Hedstrom said.

Dignitaries from the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco attended the Thursday service, Hedstrom said.

She didn’t know if a ceremony was planned for Li, but said that Chinese dignitaries were expected to be in town today.

Others treated

Ho P. Ng, a 20-year-old man who was a passenger in the Escort, suffered rib and chest injuries in the crash. He was released from Olympic Medical Center on Wednesday.

Also injured were the driver of the Focus, Douglas L. Krocker, 43, of Sequim, and his wife, Cherie A. Krocker, 44. Both were taken to OMC. They were treated and discharged the night of the wreck.

Both Cheung and Li were second-year students pursuing associate degrees.

The Peninsula College Foundation has set up a memorial fund to help pay for travel expenses for the students’ families, who traveled from Hong Kong and mainland China to make arrangements for their children’s funerals and transport the remains home.

“Our international students are an integral part of our college community,” Mary Hunchberger, executive director of the Peninsula College Foundation, said in a statement.

“It is important that we all take care of each other, keep the families in our thoughts, and remember the lives of these two beautiful young people.”

Fund donations can be sent to the Peninsula College Foundation’s Cheung/Li Memorial Fund, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles, WA 98382.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

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