Accident theory on King Tut death

Zahi Hawass believes the king should now be left in peace

Research by scientists in Liverpool could throw new light on the mystery of King Tutankhamun.

A CT scan on the Egyptian king's 3,300 year-old mummified body indicated that he may have suffered a fractured leg shortly before his death, aged 19.

Experts thought he died when infection set in, it was revealed this week.

But researchers at Liverpool University - asked by the Egyptian authorities to look at the findings - say it was more likely the king died in an accident.

Robert Connolly, senior lecturer in physical anthropology from the university's Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, has re-analysed the original X-rays of the king's leg taken in 1968.

It is highly possible that the king could have died as a result of a chariot or sporting accident, or even at war Robert Connolly University of Liverpool

He says he has found no evidence to suggest that the fracture in the femur bone became infected.

Mr Connolly adds: "It's possible Tutankhamun's leg injury could have been sustained in an accident.

"There are remarkable similarities between his ribcage injuries and those of a British mummy - St Bees Man in Cumbria - who sustained fatal damage to his chest in a jousting accident.

"It is therefore highly possible that the king could have died as a result of a chariot or sporting accident, or even at war.

"Another possibility is that the leg bone was broken during the 1925 autopsy."

Last November, Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosni approved a project to move Tutankhamun's body for the first time to Cairo to undergo the scan.

Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said he was confident that Tutankhamun, who died in 1352 BC, was not murdered.