A motorcycle accident early yesterday morning claimed the life of College junior Abraham Huang, the third Penn student to die over the course of this semester.
According to police reports, Huang, 20, was heading eastbound on the I-76 Schuylkill Expressway when the motorcycle he was riding got involved in an accident between Spring Garden Street and Girard Avenue.
The accident occurred shortly before 3 a.m.
Police said that the actual cause of the accident is still under investigation.
"Huang was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:16 a.m., an accident with multiple injuries [being] the cause," said Jeff Moran, spokesman for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner.
Huang's motorcycle was the only vehicle that was involved in the accident.
Maureen Rush, Penn's vice president for public safety, said the Philadelphia Police Accident Investigations Unit notified University Police of Huang's death shortly after 5 a.m. after notifying Huang's family.
Philadelphia Police are handling the investigation into the accident.
Huang, who lived on the 22nd floor of Harrison College House, was from Farmington, Conn. He was a first-semester transfer student from Purdue University in Indiana.
Harrison College House Dean Frank Pellicone delivered the news of Huang's death to fellow Harrison residents in an e-mail statement late yesterday morning.
In that message, Pellicone invited Harrison residents to an informational meeting held yesterday afternoon by members of Counseling and Psychological Services, Public Safety and the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life.
The meeting was held, "to help deal with the issues, concerns and emotions that this most distressing news brings during a most difficult semester," Pellicone wrote in the e-mail.
According to University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman, both Pellicone and VPUL have been involved in talking to affected members of the Penn community.
University President Judith Rodin released a statement about the incident, as well.
"We are deeply saddened by this terribly tragic accident," she said. "Our hearts go out to Abraham's family, friends and loved ones."
The tragic news of Huang's death comes on the heels of two other student deaths that rattled the University community over the past two months.
On Nov. 18, the body of Engineering graduate student Anirban Majumdar, 25, was pulled from the Schuylkill River near West River Drive and the Spring Garden Bridge after a two-week search for the missing native of Calcutta, India.
Majumdar had last been seen by his roommates on Nov. 2, the night of his birthday. The cause of Majumdar's death is still a mystery.
On Oct. 26, Wharton junior Jose Joseph fell over eight-floors to his death from his room in Hamilton College House in what officials determined to be an apparent suicide.
