Pregnant HSPH Graduate Among Kenya Mall Shooting Victims

Elif Yavuz, a 2013 graduate of Harvard School of Public Health, was among dozens killed in a terrorist attack that began Saturday in Nairobi, Kenya, according to a statement by HSPH Dean Julio Frenk on the school’s website.

Yavuz, 33, and her partner were two of the victims who were killed when masked gunmen attacked civilians at the upscale Westgate shopping mall. The militant Somali group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the violence.

Yavuz, a Netherlands native who graduated from HSPH’s Department of Global Health and Population, had been working as a senior vaccines researcher for the Clinton Health Access Initiative. She was pregnant and expecting her first child in early October.

Harvard community members remembered the victims of the attack at a Monday evening vigil in front of Memorial Church.

—Check TheCrimson.com for updates.

This article has been revised to reflect the following clarification:

CLARIFICATION: Sept. 23, 2013

An earlier version of this article stated that Yavuz was remembered at a Monday night vigil at Memorial Church. To clarify, the vigil honored all of the victims of the attack collectively.