A Warwick student has died in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which struck Haiti last week.

Li Xiaoming, who was due to graduate in absentia tomorrow with an MA in International Relations, was in Haiti with a Chinese peacekeeping team when the earthquake struck.

Chinese authorities marked the return of the bodies of the eight peacekeepers killed in the disaster with a ceremony yesterday. The ceremony was attended by Chinese leaders, who paid tribute to the peacekeepers. Their bodies were laid to rest in the Babaoshan cemetery in Beijing, where top Chinese officials and revolutionary leaders are also buried, the Agence France-Presse reported.

Warwick’s Vice-Chancellor, Nigel Thrift, said: “The sudden death of a student brings great sadness to all those who knew them. Xiaoming was a compassionate, kind and caring individual, dedicated to his peacekeeping work and with many friends both inside and outside the University. Our thoughts are with Xiaoming’s family and friends at this sad time.”

Students’ Union President Andrew Bradley said on Twitter: “This year’s Graduation will be tinged by the sad memory of student Xiaoming Li, due to graduate tomorrow who died in the Haitian earthquake.”

The University has since announced that it will be establishing a special scholarship fund in honour of Li Xiaoming.

This article was last updated at 15:25 on 22 January 2010.

Published on page 3 of the newspaper in Volume 32, Issue 8.