Massachusetts grad student dies on school trip to Ecuador

BOSTON – Authorities say a Massachusetts graduate student and former employee of a district attorney’s office has died during a school-sponsored trip to Ecuador.

Officials say University of Massachusetts Boston student Fatima Breton died Sunday. The cause of Breton’s death wasn’t immediately available, by officials say she was hiking when she suffered a medical emergency.

Fifty-seven -year-old Breton, of Methuen, was a student in the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. She also worked in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office multiple times, beginning in 2003.

Dean of Students John Silveria says counselling is being offered to students, staff and faculty.

Funeral arrangements haven’t been announced.