'Sad day' for USC family, university official says

A University of South Carolina administrator confirmed Sunday evening that six of the seven who died in an Ocean Isle Beach fire were USC students.

"We believe seven perished and six of those were from the University of South Carolina," said Dennis Pruitt, university vice president for student affairs in a statement released shortly after 7 p.m.

He said some of the students at the beach were members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority or Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

However, Pruitt said that the university community must wait until it receives official identifications from North Carolina authorities.

"It's a sad day for the entire University of South Carolina family," he said.

Pruitt said the bodies of those who died during the fire have been sent for identification to the North Carolina medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill.

It might take two or three days for them to be identified, he said.

- Mark Schreiner