Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor on Wednesday revealed that world record holder Kelvin Kiptum passed away after sustaining head injuries.
Addressing the press after conducting an autopsy on the athlete's body, the pathologist did not divulge whether there was foul play in his death. However, in his statement, he attributed the injuries to the road accident that claimed the lives of Kiptum and his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana.
"Kelvin was a 24-year-old gentleman who it was alleged was involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident," he told the press in Eldoret.
"Upon doing the postmortem, the findings are that the late Kelvin had severe head injuries. There were severe skull fractures which were mainly at the base of the spine. The spinal cord had intruded into the cranial cavity because of the fractures."
Oduor further revealed that the athlete sustained injuries on his ribs with visible fractures on the first, second and third ribs on his left side while on the right side, a total of five ribs were affected.
The postmortem results also showed that the athlete suffered contrition in his lungs.
"What actually killed the late Kelvin was severe head injuries which look like something caused by a motor vehicle accident," he added.
The chief pathologist added that his team had taken more samples for analysis as investigations into the circumstances of his death continued.
He explained that the samples would be subjected to full toxicological analysis for other factors that could have contributed to the accident.
"Being that this was a person who was driving, then suddenly he was involved in an accident and passed on. Our question is, what could have contributed to this?" he posed.
"Was there something in the system that could have contributed to this? That is why we have taken samples. We are doing the full screening for anything."
Kiptum, whose burial is scheduled for Friday, passed away on Sunday, February 11, after his car veered off the highway and landed into a ditch. The athlete and his coach died on the spot while another passenger survived with severe injuries.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been dispatched to Uasin Gishu to piece together the cause of the crash.
Already, four individuals who visited Kiptum's home four days before his tragic death have already been questioned and released.
