World Marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum died due to severe head injuries-Oduor
BY ELKANA ALVIS
World Marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum died due to severe head injuries as a result of the accident that claimed his life.
Chief Government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor says examination of the body revealed that Kiptum suffered severe injuries and fractures on his.body.
He said the fractures were on the skull, ribs and also affected his lungs.
Oduor says he was called in to do the postmortem due to speculation around the death.
He said the injuries were consistent with the accident
Oduor carried out a postmortem on the body of Kiptum at the Eldoret hospital morgue.
The postmortem was done in the presense of Kiptum’s father Samson Cheruiyot and a team of homicide officers from the DCI headquarters.
After the postmortem exercise that took more than two hours Dr Oduor briefed Kiptum’s family before addressing the media.
Oduor said they had taken samples from the body for toxicology analysis to help determine what may have caused the accident.
A family spokesmen Philip Kiplagat said they were satisfied with the details of the postmortem and would proceed to bury Kiptum.
‘As a family we are satisfied and will proceed with the burial om Friday”, said Kiplagat.
Later in the evening hundreds of athletes are expected to carry out a procession and candle lighting exercise in Eldoret to honour the fallen athlete.
Local leaders are also expected to attend.
The procession will begin at the Eldoret arboretum and end at the Nandi Park where the candle lighting will be done.
Kiptum along with his coach died a week ago in a road accident along the Eldoret-Ravine road.
Homicide officers from the DCI headquarters are investigating the cause of the accident.
Kiptum will be buried at his Farm near Naiberi in Uasin Gishu county on Friday.
The body will be removed from the morgue tommorrow and escorted through the streets of Eldoret on the way home ahead of burial.