April 12, 2016

Penn student killed by SEPTA train on Market-Frankford Line

President Gutmann: 21-year-old undergrad was 'bright, well-liked'

By Sharon Lurye
PhillyVoice Contributor

Source/Olivia Kong / LinkedIn

Olivia Kong was a junior at Penn's Wharton School.

A University of Pennsylvania undergraduate student was struck and killed by a SEPTA train on the Market-Frankford Line on Monday morning, according to officials.

The incident occurred about 7 a.m at the 40th Street Station, said SEPTA spokeswoman Heather Redfern.

In an email to students, Penn officials identified the student as Ao “Olivia” Kong, 21, a member of the Wharton School's Class of 2017.

SEPTA said based on its preliminary investigation, there was no indication of foul play or that she was pushed in front of the train, and there was no indication she had fallen on the tracks.

The agency said it was waiting on a report from the medical examiner's office for an official cause of death, and Gutmann referred to Kong's death as an "accident."

But 6ABC reports that police say she jumped and the Philadelphia Inquirer, citing authorities, reports the death is an apparent suicide.

Kong was a "bright" and "well-liked" student, Penn President Amy Gutmann told students in a separate email. She had earned the school's Mayor Scholarship and was a member of both the Phi Gamma Nu business fraternity and Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity.

A Philadelphia native who graduated from Central High School, she had spent the last semester traveling abroad in Australia, according to the university.

Penn will host a gathering of support for Kong at Huntsman Hall Room 250 at 5 p.m. Monday.

Train service was temporarily shut down between 30th Street and 52nd Street, and passengers had to take shuttle buses between those stations. Service was restored around 10 a.m.