Student Dies After Fordham University Bell Tower Fall

NEW YORK (AP) — A student who was injured when she fell from the Fordham University bell tower has died.

School President Joseph McShane says 22-year-old Sydney Monfries, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, died on Sunday after sustaining a fall inside the Keating Clock tower.

Police say emergency responders found the woman lying on the ground inside the tower with trauma to her head and body at about 3 a.m. Sunday.

Police say it appears a group of students were climbing stairs when the victim fell through a hole in one of the stairway landings.

The university is investigating how the students gained access to the tower, which an official says is normally locked.

McShane says the school plans to award the student a bachelor's degree posthumously.