In an email sent to students, King’s College London (KCL) has confirmed the woman who was tragically killed in yesterday’s van collision outside Bush House was a student at KCL.
At 11:41AM on 18 March 2025, a King’s student was killed and two others were injured in a van collision outside Bush House on Strand Campus.
The student who died remains anonymous, however KCL has confirmed they were registered to the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences (NMES).
Roar can confirm another KCL student, also registered to the Faculty of NMES, was seriously injured.
A third student, from the School of Social Science and Public Policy (SSPP), was injured but “this is not life threatening.”
Flowers commemorating the tragic incident have been placed outside St Mary Le Strand.
The communication to students, signed off by Professor Linda McKie, the Executive Dean for the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, read:
Following yesterday’s tragic incident on The Strand pedestrian area, please find below information on accessing support. A number of students and colleagues were directly impacted, and others are concerned with the sudden nature of death and serious injury resulting from an accident.
We can confirm this was a tragic accident.
Information this morning is that the student who sadly died was registered in NMES, as was another seriously injured student. We know a student from SSPP was injured but this is not life threatening. We wish them a speedy recovery.
Can I also thank the students who were present and offered practical and emotional support to those injured and distressed.
We appreciate the concerns of students, and support is available:
• Room K.031 on the Strand campus is open where support is available for any students who have been affected by what has happened.
• Appointments are also available with the Faculty Wellbeing Advisors.
• Both students and staff can access support from the Chaplaincy.
• Please talk with each other and your tutors too. Talking with others generally helps.
Please join me in sending condolences to the family of the student who died. We also wish those injured a speedy and full recovery.
Statement Signed-Off By Professor Linda McKie, Sent to SSPP Students At 11:12AM
One SSPP student told Roar, “I find the statement quite insensitive, unemotional and failing to grasp the nature of this tragedy.”
Since the incident occurred yesterday, KCL has been criticised for its response. In a statement on Instagram, KCL Turkic Society claimed:
“In today’s incident at Strand, one of our friends tragically passed away, and several others were severely injured. Among the critically injured is a Turkish friend of ours, who is currently in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Although their condition is stable, it remains serious.
“Throughout this entire ordeal, our university, King’s College, has offered no support regarding the situation. No university representative has visited the hospital, no contact has been made with the student’s family, and no contact information has been shared with us to inform their family.”
An open letter by KCL students published on Instagram branded the University’s response as “inadequate and insensitive.”
King’s has offered support to students affected by yesterday’s tragedy with room K0.31 on Strand Campus reserved for drop-in support.
Their communication to students also offered the opportunity to schedule appointments with faculty wellbeing officers and informed students about access to support from the Chaplaincy.
The statement continued: “Please talk with each other and your tutors too. Talking with others generally helps.”
Roar has contacted KCL for comment.
Police confirmed yesterday that a 26-year-old man was arrested at the scene for suspicion of causing death by careless driving and drug driving.
The individual remains in custody. The Met Police have ruled out that the accident was terrorism-related.
