KINGSTON, April 24: The body of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer is to be released shortly and returned to his family, Jamaican government officials said on Monday.

The ministry of national security said in a statement that after talks involving Jamaican deputy police commissioner Mark Shields and Kingston coroner Patrick Murphy, it was agreed to return Woolmer's body to his family in South Africa.

“Mr Shields says he has spoken to Mr Woolmer's widow, Gill, and appraised her of the latest developments,” the statement said.

“Shields says he has also been in contact and is working with the funeral home holding Mr Woolmer's body with a view to repatriating it to South Africa as soon as possible.”

Woolmer, 58, was found lifeless in his Kingston hotel room on March 18. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

His death came less than 24 hours after Pakistan's shock World Cup defeat to debutants Ireland which knocked the 1992 winners out of the tournament.

The death cast a pall on the showpiece tournament of international one-day cricket which is being held in the Caribbean for the first time.

Police have said that the former England Test cricketer had died of manual strangulation and they launched a murder investigation which continues.

The police have said they have received toxicology reports on Woolmer's body but have not released details. Media reports said the corpse had been embalmed.

According to the statement on Monday, Jamaican police will 'do everything within its power to ensure the facilitation of the repatriation process'.

The Jamaican government said last week that the inquest would be postponed, due to “significant” new developments in the murder investigation.

It did not elaborate.

The statement did not say how soon the body would leave Jamaica but an official of the national security ministry said on Monday that efforts would be made to release the body by Wednesday or Thursday.

Officials would not say whether the coroner's inquest would still go ahead.—Reuters