A Sacramento State student died March 29 when the van she was riding in overturned en route to a religious retreat.

Iman Hanalla, 24, was one of five killed in the accident that occurred at 3 a.m. when their van drifted into oncoming traffic while going 70 mph on Interstate 15 near Yermo, Calif.

The driver, Peter Demian, 27, of Mountain View, lost control when he tried to steer the van back into its lane, causing the van to overturn and eject 11 of its 14 passengers.

The van?s passengers were from the Coptic Orthodox Church and were making a yearly trip from the Bay Area to the St. Anthony Monastery for a weekend of prayer.

Iman?s sister, Dalal Hanalla, 25, of Salinas, also died in the accident, along with Christine Youssef, 17, of San Jose, Simone G. Botros, 21, of Monterey, and Mary Demian, 21, of Fair Oaks.

Iman was set to graduate with a degree in computer science this May.

“Mimi was going to be a bright leader,” said Hany Hanalla, her 21-year-old brother. Hanalla called his sisters by the nicknames Mimi and Didi. They were the first names he called his older sisters when he was little, and he has called them the names ever since.

Hanalla, who attends Sac State, said he had talked with his sisters about taking a trip after Iman?s graduation this summer to visit cousins in New Jersey or family in Egypt, where they were born.

In the last month, Hanalla said Iman was starting to enjoy the challenge of her work in computer science.

Fellow computer science student Sonny Ramsay enlisted Iman?s help last year when he was organizing an Engineering and Computer Science Day speech for prospective students. The representative from computer science dropped out, but Ramsay spotted Iman in the crowd.

“There was something about her where I just knew she?d be the one to represent computer science,” he said.

She was initially very shy, but agreed to give an impromptu speech, he said.”Everyone had a chance to prepare, but she didn?t, and what she said just blew everyone away,” he said. She spoke “from her heart” about how much she loved her major and her strong family support.

Ramsay has a recording of the speech, which Iman?s family wanted to see. Iman gave him a blank tape to make a copy for her family, but he never got around to doing it.

Dalal originally started her college studies as a computer science major and Iman as a communications major, but the two swapped majors after describing to each other how interesting their studies were, Hanalla said.

Hanalla said Iman was either going to get a job after receiving her bachelor?s degree or pursue a higher degree.

Basma Marmosh met Iman during her second year at Sac State and became good friends with her. “It was her smile, laughter and great sense of humor that attracted most people to her. Iman had this way about her which seemed to unite people. She would sit with a group of people, no matter who they were, and crack jokes, make everyone laugh, and in general lighten the mood in any setting,” she said.

Hanalla said he and his sisters were normal kids who fought sometimes but got really close during their college years.

“Friends sometimes come and go, but we were always there for each other,” he said.

Hanalla said he was planning on going on the retreat, but he had three exams the coming week and decided he?d take advantage of the weekend to study.

He was sleeping in late the morning when his sisters were killed. A friend called to say there was an accident.

“I wasn?t sure if he was joking. I thought of April Fool?s coming up,” he said.He called his priest in Hayward for confirmation. The priest told Hanalla that five had died. Hanalla then asked if any of those were his sisters and the priest told him two of those five were.

Both sisters were heavily involved in the Coptic Orthodox Church, a denomination of Egyptian Christians.

“I can?t imagine how anyone could deal with this without any faith. It would be too chaotic, too senseless,” he said.

He has human feelings where he wants his sisters back, he said, but finds solace in his sisters being in union with God.

“It boggles me how I was a brother to two angels and was oblivious to it,” he said.

Hanalla eulogized his sisters in their memorial, which was held in Monterey last week.

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