KINGSTON, Aug 29: The long-awaited coroner’s inquest into the death of former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer will begin on Oct 16, a Jamaican radio station reported on Tuesday.

Radio Jamaica, citing Ken Pantry, the director of public prosecutions, said more than 50 witnesses would be called at the inquest, to be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

Woolmer was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, a day after Pakistan crashed out of the Cricket World Cup following a shock defeat by Ireland.

Jamaican police, acting on autopsy findings, initially said Woolmer was strangled and launched a murder investigation.

The announcement touched off frenzied media speculation that Woolmer, 58, might have been killed by gamblers, match-fixers or disgruntled players.

The high-profile murder investigation was a blow for a tourism-dependent Caribbean nation.

After months of investigation, police said Woolmer was not murdered but had died of natural causes, probably heart failure. The announcement followed a re-examination of the autopsy report by a team of international pathologists.—Reuters