Sweety Mazumdar, 25, of Kolkata and Apsana Giri, 26 of Kathmandu were killed when the van carrying students of the Bowling Green State University in Ohio State crashed early on Wednesday morning as they were returning from a New Year trip to Chicago.

All other students were males and were either not injured or suffered minor injuries but Indiana State Police Cpl Derek Fisher could not say if the weather contributed to the crash.

The women, who were fatally injured, were ejected from the van as it overturned and rolled over several times. One of them was struck by another oncoming vehicle and the other was found underneath the van after emergency officials used winch to roll the van upright, Fire Department spokesman said.

The accident occurred around 12:20 hours. One of the students died on the spot and the other was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in Fort Wayne, about 70 kilometres from the scene of accident.

University President Sidney Ribeau extended "deepest condolences" to the families of the students killed in the tragic accident.