A University of Toronto student has died following an early morning house fire in Scarborough on Wednesday.
At around 2:30 am, a fire broke out at a house at Haida Court near Lash Court, right next door to UTSC.
Three occupants — one woman and two men — were able to escape the blaze and were brought to the hospital. The woman sustained severe burns, while the men were treated for smoke inhalation.
The fourth occupant, an 18-year-old woman, was found dead on the second floor of the house. All four people are international students from China, U of T spokesperson Michael Kurts confirmed in an interview with CP24.
“This breaks my heart to see this,” said Toronto Fire chief Matthew Pegg. “Despite all of our best efforts, and all the efforts our crews will always make to do their very, very best to effect a rescue, unfortunately we just weren’t able to get in given the conditions that were here.”
“This is a terrible tragedy,” said U of T Vice-President and UTSC Principal Bruce Kidd. “The thoughts of the entire campus community are with the family of the student who was killed in the fire and with the three other students who were in the house.”
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Toronto Fire is investigating the incident and will be on the scene for further updates.
