FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — The National Transportation Safety Board investigates a Tesla crash and fire that killed two Florida students, the agency said.

Barrett Riley and Edgar Monserratt, both seniors, were traveling near an area known as “dead man’s curve” in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday night. Tragedy struck when their all-electric Tesla Model S hit a wall and burst into flames, officials said.

The boys, 18, died while trapped inside the burning vehicle, according to witnesses. One onlooker said he saw the victims moving and trying to escape from the flames. But no one could help them break free.

A backseat passenger was thrown from the car and taken to a hospital with undisclosed injuries. According to local news, he is 18-year-old Alexander Berry of Fort Lauderdale.

What Caused the Florida Tesla Crash?

Speed may have been a factor in the crash, the NTSB said Wednesday. Its investigation will primarily focus on the emergency response in relation to the electric vehicle battery fire, the agency said, adding that it also had plans to have a team of four investigators in South Florida by Wednesday night.

Tesla released a statement Wednesday, saying, it was “working to establish the facts of the incident” and offered its “full cooperation” to local authorities. Telsa said the car’s autopilot feature was not on at the time,.

The teens, both students at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, were a few weeks away from graduation. Riley, the driver, was set to attend Indiana’s Purdue University in the fall. Monserratt was preparing to go to Boston College in Massachusetts.

Larry Groshart, who said he witnessed the crash, told the car appeared to travel between 50 and 60 mph. On a road known as the “dead man’s curve,” that’s a recipe for failure. It’s a massive tragedy that these young men lost their lives in such an avoidable way.