A Boston University student abroad in London suffered non-life threatening injuries after falling from a dormitory window Wednesday night, BU London Program officials said.
Police determined the incident was an accidental fall, according to an email sent to students Thursday from London Program Director Alison Campbell. The student fell from the kitchen in the Crofton residence hall, fracturing her arm, Campbell told The Daily Free Press in an email.
‘At this stage I can only confirm there was an incident involving a student fall from a 1st floor kitchen at the Crofton,’ Campbell said. In the Crofton, the first floor is the American equivalent of the second floor.
Student Life Associate Director Michael Oliver stated in a different email to students that the student who fell had broken her arm and ‘has fractures in some bones of her lower back.’
Campbell warned students not to use windows or unauthorized doors to gain access outside because it’s unsafe, according to her email.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Ben Kemper, who is in the London Program and lives in the Crofton, said police came knocking on suites in the building after the incident, waking up residents.
‘[The officer] said, ‘Someone seems to have fallen out of a window or balcony and we were wondering if you had any response to that,” Kemper said. ‘It’s always terrifying to get a policeman at your door at 4:30 in the morning.’
Kemper said he does not think officers handled the situation professionally, disclosing to residents that night the student’s first name and what happened before anything had been confirmed.
The situation was further aggravated by the director’s email, which arrived a while after the fact, leaving people wondering if the student was okay, Kemper said.
This is the second incident of a student involved with BU falling from a building this semester. A BU graduate student died after falling from a third-story balcony in Allston on Sept. 19.
In 2007, a BU sophomore died after falling from the fourth floor of his South Campus dormitory on Mountfort Street.
Staff writer Lilia Stantcheva contributed to the reporting of this article.
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