A YALE UNIVERSITY STUDENT nearing graduation was killed inside a school lab when her hair was pulled into a piece of equipment, a college official said today.

Michele Dufault, a senior majoring in astronomy, died last night “in what appears to have been a terrible accident involving a piece of equipment,” officials said.

Yale said the accident took place inside a chemistry lab machine shop but did not say what the equipment was.

“By all reports, Michele was an exceptional young woman, an outstanding student and young scientist, a dear friend and a vibrant member of this community,” Yale Vice President Linda Lorimer wrote in a message to Yale students and faculty. “We will find ways in the next day to gather to celebrate her life and grieve her loss.”

In a Facebook profile picture, Dufault is shown with long brown hair that fell below her shoulders. She died from accidental asphyxia by neck compression, according to the Connecticut medical examiner’s office.

The university told the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Dufault was operating the machinery for a senior project when she was killed, according to Kang Yi, an assistant area director for OSHA in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Emergency call

New Haven authorities received a 911 call about the accident at around 2.30am, police spokesman Joe Avery said.

OSHA has opened an inspection that will look into factors surrounding the accident and whether the lab complied with safety standards, said Ted Fitzgerald, an agency spokesman in Boston.

Dufault was from Scituate, Massachusetts, and was graduating in a month, said her grandfather Robert Dufault. She studied constantly and loved sports, he said.

“She was a living saint,” the grandfather said. “She was a good, smart girl.”

On its website, Yale’s chemistry department says it maintains a state-of-the-art machine shop in which students, faculty and staff can build or modify research instruments. Access is limited to those who have completed a shop course, according to the website.

Yale is offering counselling to students. The lab was closed today and classes were cancelled in that building. New Haven police spokesman Avery said that Yale police are leading the investigation.

- AP