Indiana University student among those in Malaysia Airlines crash

An Indiana University student was among those killed in the Malaysia Airlines jet crash Thursday, university officials announced.

Karlijn Keijzer, 25, was a doctoral student in chemistry at the university and an avid rower who once competed on the women’s varsity rowing team there, the school said. She had also earned her master’s degree at Indiana.

“On behalf of the entire Indiana University community, I want to express my deepest sympathies to Karlijn’s family and friends over her tragic death,” Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie said in a statement. “Karlijn was an outstanding student and a talented athlete, and her passing is a loss to the campus and the university.”

Keijzer, who was from the Netherlands, was a member of Indiana’s Varsity 8 boat team during its 2011 season, and earned honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Assn. and Academic All-Big Ten.

“The Indiana Rowing family is deeply saddened by the news of Karlijn’s sudden passing,” said Indiana head rowing coach Steve Peterson. “She came to us for one year as a graduate student and truly wanted to pursue rowing. That year was the first year we really started to make a mark…and she was a huge reason for it.”

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, which U.S. intelligence officials have blamed on an apparent surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russia militants, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

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