A first-year engineering student at the University of Waterloo was struck and killed by lightning Friday morning.

The 18-year-old woman was walking on a pathway leading from the ring road to the student dorms on campus around 9 a.m. when she was struck.

Fire officials said she had taken shelter underneath a tree during the severe thunderstorm.

According to the police, the student’s family lives in the Markham area. The university confirmed she was enrolled in Waterloo’s nanotechnology engineering program.

Obinna Ohuabunwa, a first-year environmental studies student, was walking with a friend on a path near the student residences when he saw the girl lying on the ground.

Her clothes appeared torn and her shoes burned, he said.

“I called 911 and told them that someone had been struck by lightning,” Ohuabunwa said.

His friend, 18-year-old Daniel Obadun, who like the victim is in first-year engineering, said a don came from one of the nearby residences and checked the victim’s vital signs.

“I can’t imagine what her parents are going through,” Ohuabunwa said. “This is the first week of orientation.”

Liz Monteiro from the Waterloo Region Record has been reporting from the University of Waterloo today.

Waterloo regional police said emergency responders found her without vital signs. She was pronounced dead at Grand River Hospital a short time later.

Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, referred to the student as “both academically strong and personally vibrant” in a news conference Friday afternoon.

“Orientation week is a time when campus is especially vibrant and filled with optimism for the future, which makes this student death even more distressing, and her passing a source of immense grief,” Hamdullahpur said.

“We hold this student’s loved ones in our hearts and minds at this difficult time.”

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Prior to the incident the university had cancelled orientation events for the day because of the threatening weather.

“We are really sad that this happened on our campus and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the student,” said Danielle Burt, president of the school’s student body.

“We are encouraging students who are concerned or troubled in any way to contact counselling services on campus who are aware of the situation.”

Burt said the university plans to hold a moment of silence before the university’s football game against McMaster University on Saturday.