Belarusian investigators find no foul play in death of U.S. major who fell from Minsk hotel's 10th floor
MINSK. July 7 (Interfax) - The death of an American citizen in Minsk on June 12 was most likely an accident, the Belarusian Investigative Committee said on Friday.
"The information received by investigators suggests that the death of the man contains no signs of a criminal nature and was an unfortunate accident," the Committee said in a statement.
It was reported that the victim was a U.S. army major, Kyle Tafel. He had flown to Minsk together with his relatives who were taking part in a powerlifting world championship that was taking place on June 14 - 25. Just before his death, the American was in a casino. Eyewitnesses said he was very drunk, the security staff moved him to his hotel room.
His death is now being probed by Belarusian investigators. They are waiting for final results of a full forensic medical analysis to be used in the ongoing inquiry, the Investigative Committee said.
It was reported that a man's body, with injuries due to a fall from a height, was found on the roof of a Minsk hotel bar at around midnight on June 12. Subsequent inquiries found that one of the hotel guests climbed his room window (there was no balcony) before falling off the tenth-floor parapet.
The man was identified as a U.S. citizen, born 1981, the Investigative Committee said.
Investigators questioned all of the hotel staff, who were on duty on that day, and spoke to the victim's relatives through an interpreter. All the statements have been admitted into evidence.
"According to an expert's preliminary data, the death of the man occurred as a result of injuries characteristic of a fall from a height, no other injuries were found," the Investigative Committee said.
