Jean-Yves Ishimwe, 23, a Rwandan student at the University of Michigan was over the weekend found dead in a lake in what is believed to have been a zip line accident.The deceased family confirmed to The New Times Wednesday that he was involved in a lake incident and the fact that he didn’t know how to swim might have resulted into his demise.
Jean-Yves Ishimwe, 23, a Rwandan student at the University of Michigan was over the weekend found dead in a lake in what is believed to have been a zip line accident.
The deceased family confirmed to The New Times Wednesday that he was involved in a lake incident and the fact that he didn’t know how to swim might have resulted into his demise.
He has been on the Presidential scholarship in the United States.
Ishimwe, who was serving as an intern for Cummins, was pronounced dead on June 17, at Schneck Medical Center, according to a Jackson County Sheriff's Department press release.
A statement from local authorities says that on the fateful day at 9:10 p.m, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department received a call regarding an unconscious man who had been under water for several minutes at a lake in the 8000 block of North Base Road.
Witnesses told police that Ishimwe was riding a zip line across a family lake, when the accident happened, according to the report.
Clement Uwitonze, an elder brother of the deceased said that if all goes to plan, the body of the deceased will be returned to Rwanda on Saturday or not later than Tuesday next week.
Ishimwe’s friends have started an online fundraising campaign to raise $12,000 to bring back his body to Rwanda for burial.
Ishimwe was an orphan and the last born of three hailing from Huye District
He attended high school at Petit Seminaire Virgo Fidelis in Butare, graduated first in his class and earned a Rwandan Presidential Scholarship to study in the United States.
He attended Morehouse College, then transferred to the University of Michigan to finish his Electrical Engineering degree.
According to his brother, Ishimwe had finished his Bachelor’s degree studies and was awaiting graduation in December.
Ishimwe has been named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Most Outstanding Electrical Engineering Student, and one of his research has been published in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal.
In his free time, Ishimwe enjoyed playing Soccer, playing classical piano music and listening to Rwandan old-school music, locally known as Karahanyuze, according to his friends.
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