American Student On Myanmar Holiday Dies In Accident While Watching Sunset

A 20-year-old American college student, who enrolled with the Semester At Sea program, died Tuesday evening after falling from a 20-foot pagoda while trying to watch the sunset in Myanmar’s ancient former capital city of Bagan, the program confirmed in a statement.

Kassandra Braun, from Fishers, Indiana, a junior St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, and also a Cathedral High School alumni succumbed to her injuries and died while in an ambulance en route to Mandalay General Hospital in Myanmar.

"We are deeply saddened to share the news of the loss of a member of our shipboard community. This afternoon (November 7, 2017) at approximately 1600 local time in Myanmar, Kassandra (Kassie) Braun, a student from St. Edward’s University, fell while on independent travel in Bagan," the program said in their statement.

Braun was said to have been gravely injured by the fall while visiting the ancient religious city that is home to Buddhist temples, monasteries and pagodas, as a part of her program. She was touring the country as a participant of the Semester at Sea program.

"We are deeply saddened to share with the St. Edward’s community that junior, SEU student Kassandra Arielle Braun, passed away during a tragic accident while studying abroad with Semester at Sea," St. Edward’s University said in a statement.

"Kassie and her family will be remembered in prayer at a memorial Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 5:15 pm. Members of the St. Edward’s community are welcome to attend and to join together to pray and support one another," the University added in their statement.

Braun's parents, Charlene and Dave Braun, also released a statement via the Semester at Sea program on Tuesday after the news of her death saying that they were still waiting for more information on their daughter's sudden demise, but were grateful for the support they had received throughout.

"They are still waiting for further details about what happened but would like everyone to know that Kassie was having the time of her life on Semester at Sea and was living her dream," the statement said.

"She was so full of life and love, gave so much to so many," the family's statement read. "She had a tremendous love for her friends and teachers at Cathedral High School and St. Edwards University. She lived life the Holy Cross way hoping to someday give back as was given to her."

The study abroad program- Semester At Sea program, which circumnavigates the globe over the course of 100 days, including more than 550 students in their program along with Braun. During the program, Braun had plans to visit 10 countries on four continents in just the course of around three months that included Germany, Myanmar, India, Spain and South Africa.

Braun’s friend, Ebrahim Al Mutawa, wrote a post on Facebook in response to the news of her death. "I’ve never met a girl that knew more about the sea & boats than me till I met you," he wrote.

Several users who knew Braun also expressed their condolences on Twitter after the news of her death on Tuesday.