MONTVILLE, Conn. -- A man driving drunk and going the wrong way with his lights off early Saturday crashed head-on into a van, killing a college student who was headed to Africa on a spring break medical aid mission, police said.

The wrong-way driver, Daniel Musser, slammed into the van around 3:45 a.m. while it was headed south on Interstate 395 in Montville, about 45 miles southeast of Hartford, police said.

The vehicle was traveling south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 395 in Montville when it hit the students' van, causing the van to flip. The van was carrying eight Connecticut College students.

Elizabeth Durante, a 20-year-old junior and a trained emergency medical technician from West Islip, N.Y., was partially thrown from the van and died at the scene. She had planned to one day become a doctor.

"The Connecticut College community suffered a heartbreaking loss this morning," the school responded in a statement.

The other seven passengers were taken to area hospitals and treated, according to a statement from the college.

State Police Public Information Officer Lt. Paul Vance identified the other crash victims.

Jennifer Blanco, 20, was taken to Backus Hospital with facial and head injuries.

Tai Rie, 20, was taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital with potential injuries.

Charles Goodman, 20, was taken to Backus Hospital with facial injuries.

John W. Meade, 19, was taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital with potential injuries.

Laura Whitelaw, 29, and Samantha Hemdon, 21, were both taken to Backus Hospital.

The driver of the van, 38-year-old Faheem Muhammad, was taken to Backus Hospital for potential injuries.

All but one of the students were treated and released.

Police have charged Daniel Musser, 22, of Groton, Conn., with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, second-degree assault under influence, reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated, driving the wrong way on a highway and operating without minimum insurance.

Troop E in Montville closed the northbound lanes for several hours to allow investigators and an accident reconstruction team to conduct an investigation. They were reopened shortly before 8:30 a.m. The investigation remains ongoing.

Police said the students were on their way to the airport because they planned to spend spring break on a special mission in Kaberamaido, Uganda, to provide orphaned children and other village residents with medical services and supplies. The trip was through the Asayo Wish Foundation and was organized by Durante and another student.

Durante, a certified emergency medical technician, had been on a similar trip to South Africa in 2007, and it affected her so greatly that she organized her first trip to the Ugandan village last year, according to a December 2007 story on her by the college's public affairs office.

In the story, Durante said she hoped to become a surgeon, "something intense enough to fulfill the EMT adrenaline-junkie I know will always be inside of me."

"I love the connection with other human beings that medicine offers," Durante said. "No matter where they grew up, how old they are, how rich or poor - a patient is a patient."

Connecticut College is providing counseling for students who are on campus. More counseling will be available when classes resume after spring break.

"Elizabeth was a student of enormous talent, commitment and compassion. Her passing is an incalculable loss to our community. Our deepest sympathies are with Elizabeth's family and with her many friends on campus," Connecticut College President Leo I. Higdon Jr. said in a statement.

Police said Musser was being held on $100,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in Norwich Superior Court on Monday.