THE MAJOR Investigation Task Force (MIT), the island?s top sleuthing unit, is now trying to ascertain the circumstances which led to the death of the Pakistan team coach Bob Woolmer.

Yesterday forensic and evidence gathering teams of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) visited the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, in New Kingston, where the Pakistan team is staying, searching for clues.

The police declined to share information related to the investigation, which is being led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Colin Pinnock.

Woolmer, 58, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) at 12:14 p.m., approximately 30 minutes after he was taken to the Accident and Emergency section of the hospital.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is to be done, but this may not take place until his wife arrives in Jamaica from South Africa.

Despite Pakistan officials saying that a coroner?s inquest will be launched, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Owen Ellington, who has responsibility for Cricket World Cup security locally, told The Gleaner that such a decision has not yet been taken.

?It is a normal thing to do, but may not be necessary in every case,? he said when asked to confirm whether a coroner?s inquest will take place.

?That would be a decision instigated by the post mortem examination,? ACP Ellington added.

He also said that like all sudden deaths, the police are treating it as a homicide. He said the police will be interviewing several persons who may have come into contact with Woolmer before his death.

Pakistan?s media manager, P.J. Mir, told journalists yesterday that Woolmer was discovered lying in the room by hotel workers at about 10:45 a.m. He said the former England player and South African coach was attended to by doctors before being rushed to the UHWI, which is some 15 minutes away by car. It is, however, unclear why he did not arrive at the UHWI before 11:45 yesterday.

Distraught

Woolmer, whose reign as Pakistan coach would have ended in June, was distraught after his team lost to Group D minnows, Ireland, in their ICC Cricket World Cup match on Saturday and became the first team to crash out of the tournament. Pakistan had entered the tournament at No. 4 in the ICC rankings.

?I?ve experienced a few bad days in my life and this ranks pretty highly with ones that I have experienced,? Woolmer said at a press conference on Saturday after the loss.

Mir said tha distraught, Woolmer retired to his room at 7:00 that evening and was not seen again until his uncon-scious body was stumbled upon.

Mir was among those who saw Woolmer in his unconscious state in the hotel room and was also at the UHWI when the doctors pronounced him dead.

He painted a picture which suggested that Woolmer may have struggled in his last moments inside his hotel room.

?When I reached the room, he was lying on the floor with his mouth wide open and there was blood in the bathroom and there was vomit all over the wall and there were signs of diarrhoea,? Mir said.

A statement from the High Command of the JCF said yesterday that Woolmer was pronounced dead by a medical team led by Drs. Simone French and Asher Cooper after being rushed there by an ambulance team.

?The entire Pakistan team and management are shocked and saddened by his passing,? Mir said moments after exiting the UHWI hospital.

?His next of kin has been informed and we extend our deepest condolences to his family,? he added.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller also offered condolences at the sudden death of Mr. Woolmer.

?A dark shadow has been cast on the ICC Cricket World Cup and our hearts go out to the family of Mr. Woolmer and the Pakistan cricket team,? the Prime Minister said in a statement released by the Jamaica Information Service.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the ICC, Malcolm Speed, said in a television interview yesterday that the passing of Woolmer is a loss to the cricketing world.
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