A Colorado county coroner has reported that Michael Kennedy, son of the late Senator Robert Kennedy, died from massive injuries to the head and neck while skiing on New Year's Eve.

"A forensic autopsy ... showed the cause of death to be from massive head and neck trauma. The manner of death was accidental," Pitkin County Deputy Coroner Tom Walsh said in a statement.

Mr Kennedy may have been playing a version of ski football that has become a New Year's Eve tradition on Copper Bowl, an intermediate run on Aspen Mountain.

According to eyewitness accounts, he and other members of the family were throwing a ball around as they skied down the slope.

A rescue team found him four minutes after receiving a call from an on-mountain patrol phone reporting an unconscious skier.

The team administered extensive first aid including cardiac care, spinal immobilization and respiratory support.

He was rushed to Aspen Valley hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than two hours after the accident.

Mr Kennedy was the second of 11 children born to the former senator and his wife, Ethel, to die under tragic circumstances.

Answering allegations about his alleged affair with a young babysitter

His older brother David died in 1984 from an overdose of cocaine and prescription drugs in Palm Beach, Florida.

The father of three was described as an excellent skier. His family began coming to Aspen for skiing holidays in the early 1960s. In recent years they have kept a low profile.

Ethel Kennedy said in a statement she and her family were mourning his loss. "He was a special and wonderful father, son, brother, cousin and friend, and his family would appreciate your prayers during this tragic time," she said.

His brother, US Rep. Joseph Kennedy of Massachusetts, said: "We will miss him dearly."

President Bill Clinton, visibly shocked to hear the news, interrupted a New Year's celebration to telephone the Kennedy family and express his condolences.

The President said that the first lady's and his thoughts and prayers were with Ethel tonight and the entire Kennedy family as they endured yet another personal tragedy," a White House spokesperson said.

Michael Kennedy escorting his bride Vicki after their wedding in New York in 1981

Michael Kennedy headed Citizens Energy Corporation, a nonprofit organization that supplies heating fuel to the poor. He also managed his uncle Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate re-election campaign in 1994.

Mr Kennedy was the focus of controversy in 1997 for an alleged five-year affair with his children's teenage babysitter.

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