South Carolina medical student dies in Peru hiking accident

COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina officials say a medical student has died in an apparent hiking accident while on a medical outreach mission trip in Peru.

USC spokesman Wes Hickman told news outlets on Saturday that Seth Thomas, a second-year medical student, is believed to have died because of a hiking accident. He says the 24-year-old was last seen Friday afternoon while on a hike in the Andes Mountains.

Thomas had been working with a Peruvian non-profit to improve women’s health in a clinical program through Augusta University. He was scheduled to return to the United States next week.