Woman Dies After Fall From MIT Dorm

A woman was killed last night after falling from a high floor of a graduate student dormitory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, campus officials confirmed.

At about 9 p.m. last night, witnesses saw the woman fall from a window in a tower at the Westgate complex on MIT's west campus.

Two sources familiar with the incident, including a witness, said the woman fell from the 14th floor.

Paramedics from the Cambridge Fire Department and the Professional Ambulance Company were on the scene within minutes but were unable to revive the woman.

For a few hours, a small crowd gathered outside the dormitory as MIT officers and engineers secured the scene.

Police and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's office will conduct separate investigations into the death.

The police referred all requests for comment to the MIT News Office.

A spokesperson there said he did not know the identity of the woman.

Another spokesperson, Tim Campbell, said that no formal response was planned to the MIT community until the details of the incident had been confirmed.

Westgate, located near Memorial Drive, houses primarily married students.

The last death at MIT occurred in April of this year.

Elizabeth Shin, then a sophomore, died after setting herself on fire in her dorm room.

After an investigation, the death was ruled a suicide by the coroner.

In March, Chris Millard, a former student, died from injuries he sustained after falling from the roof of a campus building.

In February of 1999, MIT first-year student Michael P. Manley died after falling from the 14th floor of MacGregor Hall. Police ruled the death a suicide.

In August of 1999, an MIT senior died after overdosing.

The Tech, MIT's student newspaper, wrote in April of this year that the school's suicide rate was well below the national average for the 1990s.