Sport

Thai police autopsy shows Shane Warne died of natural causes

Former cricketer’s remains are expected to be prepared for air transfer to Melbourne

Fans leave flowers at the statue of Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Navaon Siradapuvadol and Caitlin Cassidy
Mon Mar 7 2022 - 08:42

Thai police say Shane Warne’s autopsy shows the cricket great died of natural causes.

Deputy spokesperson Kritsana Pattanacharoen said on Monday the autopsy report had been received and it concluded Warne had a “natural death”. Thai police have informed his family and the Australian embassy.

The police will now provide the report to the prosecutor to close the case.

The Australian ambassador thanked Thai police and the related department for the investigation into the 52-year-old’s death on Friday.

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Earlier, a German woman had been questioned by Thai police after she entered the back of the ambulance transporting Warne’s body off Koh Samui island.

Warne’s body was on Sunday taken from Koh Samui by ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland and to a local hospital where the official autopsy was conducted. His remains are now expected to be prepared for an air transfer to Melbourne.

Warne's body was accompanied by his friends, as well as the Australian ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, and Dfat officials, but they were not with the van when it was parked on the car ferry, the ABC reported.

ABC video footage showed a blonde woman accompanied by a Thai woman talking to local immigration officials by the car ferry.

The pair was then escorted to the ambulance parked on the ferry where the blonde woman approached the driver’s window holding flowers. They had a brief exchange before he escorted her to the other side of the van and allowed her to enter for less than a minute.

The woman attended the local police station on Monday morning and spoke with the superintendent of the station.

McKinnon earlier told media Thai police and hospital staff were facilitating the return of Warne’s body to Australia as quickly as possible. “They’ve been very compassionate, very efficient and very understanding,” he said.

The 52-year-old Australian was found unresponsive in his villa about 5.15pm on Friday after he did not arrive for dinner with friends as scheduled.

One of the paramedics called to the scene on Friday described how Warne’s friends desperately tried to revive him by applying CPR.

Warne was later pronounced dead at the local hospital with Bo Phut police confirming his death shortly afterwards.

Bo Phut police station superintendent Yuttana Sirisombat has said Warne had been suffering chest pains before arriving in Thailand. He also had asthma and had seen a doctor about his heart.

Warne visited a local tailor before his death. Parsuram Panday said on Monday that the ex-cricketer was “happy and playful” when he saw him for the first time in two years due to the Covid pandemic.

“His body looked the same, he’s a sportsman, he looked fresh,” said Panday. “He was funny. He played belly punching with me. He was a nice man. He smoked. He didn’t smoke before but this time I saw him smoking. I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know. He looked strong. I heard it was a heart attack.”

The tailor said he was due to have a fitting with Warne at his villa on Saturday but would now “drop his suit to the hotel”.

The Sporting News chief executive, Tom Hall, has revealed Warne’s last meal was a plate of Vegemite toast shared with a friend at the Thailand resort where he died hours later.

“I have dined with Shane in many fine establishments, but rather than sample some of the local Thai fare, we tuck into a plate of Vegemite on toast,” Hall wrote in an article on the outlet’s website.

“Shane chomping away: ‘Geez, you can’t beat Vegemite with some butter, always great wherever you are in the world’. An Australian through and through - this was to turn out to be his last meal.”

Police have aid there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding Warne’s death which is believed to have been caused by a heart attack. Police are expected to reveal details of the autopsy later on Monday night Australian time.

- Guardian

Shane Warne