2 international students from China killed in minivan crash Monday near Kitchener, Ont.

The King's University College community is grieving the loss of two international students who died after their minivan collided with a pickup truck on Highway 401 near Kitchener, Ont., on Monday morning.

The two students from China were enrolled in the first-year social sciences program, university president David Malloy said in a statement. 

"It's a tremendous loss to our community and we're deeply saddened, our empathy for the pain their families must be going through is taking a toll on us," he said.

"As a father of four kids, that's a phone call that no one ever wants to receive, and we've offered everything we can do for their families at this time."

The Oxford County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating the incident, and said the pair were transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died. 

Two other passengers in the minivan, who are also international students from China, were taken to hospital with serious injuries. As of Tuesday afternoon, one of the injured is out of the ICU and is expected to recover, Malloy said. The driver was treated on the scene for minor injuries. 

"We have contacted the injured students who are in hospital and their families. We are doing all we can to support them as well," Malloy said. 

Malloy said the students were on their way to the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto to enjoy the first day of their reading week, which started on Monday when the crash happened. 

"It was a personal trip, just a fun day for them on the first day of no classes and things went terribly wrong on the 401."

The OPP said they received the call of a two-vehicle collision at around 10:25 a.m. ET in Blandford-Blenheim Township in the eastbound lanes just west of Trussler Road.

The driver of the pickup truck was also transported to hospital with serious injuries, the OPP said.

The highway was closed for approximately six hours before it reopened.

The identities of the deceased are not being released until next of kin have been notified. 

The response team included members of Oxford OPP, Cambridge OPP, West Region OPP Traffic Incident Management Enforcement (TIME) team, Fire Services from Drumbo, Oxford County Paramedic Services, as well as Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services.