Community Corner
UCSD Neuroscientist Confirmed Among Seven Killed In Montreal Building Fire
An Wu had been staying in Montreal to attend an academic conference.
March 28, 2023
A University of California San Diego neuroscientist was confirmed by police Monday as one of seven people killed in a fire that tore through a building earlier this month in Montreal, Canada.
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An Wu, 31, was initially reported missing in the wake of the March 16 fire that destroyed a building in the Old Montreal neighborhood.
According to a GoFundMe page created to assist her family, Wu had been staying in Montreal to attend an academic conference.
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The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The webpage for UCSD’s Komiyama Lab, where Wu worked, states she is from Anhui in south China, studied biology at Wuhan University and neuroscience at the University of Miami.
In a statement posted Monday afternoon on Twitter, UC San Diego professor Takaki Komiyama said, “An’s passing has been confirmed this morning. The situation suggests that she passed without suffering. To those who reached out with kind thoughts, thank you.”
Komiyama also posted a statement last week, when Wu was still considered missing, but not confirmed among the fire’s casualties.
In it, Komiyama described Wu as “creative, fearless, and forward-thinking, with a constant desire to learn” and “a beloved and loyal friend who fills us with her inexhaustible energy and optimism.”
City News Service contributed to this article.
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