Shane Warne death: Cricket legend’s body involved in shock potential security breach

An autopsy has confirmed how Shane Warne died as Thai authorities investigate a possible security breach which was captured on film. SEE THE FOOTAGE

Shane Warne died of natural causes, an autopsy at the Surat Thani Hospital has confirmed.

Royal Thai Police informed Australia’s ambassador to Thailand Allan McKinnon and Warne’s family of the results before making a public statement.

A press conference was due on Tuesday evening.

It comes as Thai authorities investigate a potential security breach involving the body of the cricketing legend, which was captured on film.

A German woman was able to enter an ambulance carrying Warne’s body and spend over half a minute alone in the vehicle, the ABC reported.

It is understood the woman told Thai authorities she knew Warne personally, prompting them to provide her access to pay respects.

A woman steps into the vehicle in a potential security breach.

Footage shows the woman carrying a small bunch of flowers and approaching the ambulance which was transporting Warne’s body from Koh Samui where he died, via ferry to the mainland.

She is escorted to the ambulance and approaches the driver side window, holding up the flowers in front of her.

The driver then gets out and walks around the sliding side door of the ambulance, opening the door for the woman, who enters, and closing it behind her.

Shane Warne, pictured at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, in 2019. Picture: Jack Thomas/Getty Images for The Hundred)

There are concerns about the length of time the woman spent unaccompanied with Warne’s body, which is still the subject of an official autopsy.

Earlier, Shane Warne’s extreme crash diet was blamed for his “massive heart attack”, as new details emerged about the frantic efforts to save him.

Warne had been fasting and on a liquid diet in the weeks leading up to his death as he tried to return to the slim and buff physique he had when dating Liz Hurley.

Samujana villas in Koh Samui Thailand, where it is believed Shane Warne suffered a heart attack and died. Picture: instagram https://www.instagram.com/samujanavillas/?hl=en

The 52-year-old’s body was expected to return home to Australia on Tuesday and comes as Warnes’s distraught family on Sunday accepted an offer for a State Funeral, allowing the public to also share their grief and honour the cricketer’s memory.

Meanwhile, a paramedic who was one of the first on the scene, has revealed Warne was unresponsive when he and a colleague arrived at the cricket star’s luxury hotel room at the Samujan resort.

Anuch Han-iam told The Sun Warne’s friends were doing CPR and he took over while they waited for the ambulance.

“They were desperate. I think one was crying. They were really stressed and panicked,” he said. “They kept trying to wake him and I heard someone saying, ‘Come on, Shane. Come on, Shane’.

People lay flowers at the statue of Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

His friends, including business associate Andrew Neophitou who performed CPR in a desperate bid to revive Warne, accompanied his body on a ferry to Surat Thani Hospital on the Thai mainland on Sunday.

Australia’s ambassador to Thailand Allan McKinnon was on the docks when Warne’s body was taken from the island resort of Koh Samui.

Warne’s family gave the green light for an autopsy to be conducted in Thailand rather than waiting until he returned to Australia.

A Thai ambulance driver on Sunday gave a vivid account of the tragedy which unfolded in Warne’s villa at the luxury Samujana Villas.

Kittichai Huadmuang said the situation was tense when the ambulance he was driving reached the villa at 5.20pm Friday local time (9.20pm Sydney).

“When we got there, the room was very tense, everyone was under panic,” he told News Corp in a translated interview.

“The friend who did CPR do it right. It’s quite chaotic because everyone is in a rush to help him.”

Mr Han-iam said he could see Warne’s friends were “all shocked” as he worked to save the cricketer.

“There were about four or five other people in the room. All men, there were no women. The villa was clean and I didn’t see any beer or cigarettes inside,” the paramedic said.

“There was nothing unusual that made me think they’d been partying. I didn’t know when I arrived that it was Shane Warne. But I know who he is, he’s a star.

“I did my best for him and gave all my energy. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t help him.”

Mr Huadmuang said six people were needed to carry Warne out to the ambulance.

He said blood on the carpet, towels and pillows in his villa bedroom were the result of Warne coughing up blood when CPR was performed – and not the cause of his death.

Sources have revealed Warne’s Hong Kong-based friend Tom Hall, a poker player and chief executive of a US sports news publication, was among the group of four with Warne when he died.

Mr Hall posted a picture of himself and Warne on Friday, saying: “So sad. No more words today. Drained.”

He had also put up a photograph of the sunset at the Samujana Villas on his Instagram page last month.

Tributes laid at the statue of Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Picture: David Crosling

Samujana Villas boss Gareth Edwards and Neophitou were among the others in the group with Warne. It was Neophitou who found Warne unconscious in his room when the spin king was 15 minutes late in meeting the friends for drinks.

Warne had posted a shirtless picture of himself two weeks before his death with the caption: “Operation shred has started (10 days in) and the goal by July is get back to this shape from a few years ago. Let’s go.”

His manager James Erskine confirmed Warne’s attitude to food was “all or nothing.”

“It was either white buns with butter and lasagne stuffed in the middle, or he’d be basically having these black or green juices,” Erskine said on the Weekend Today show.

Jackson Warne and Shane Warne attend Twilight Beach Polo on February 5 in St Kilda. Picture: Sam Tabone/WireImage

He said Warne was a lifelong smoker, but his comments raised concerns about whether the bowler’s crash diet contributed to his heart problem.

“I just think it was a massive heart attack, I think that’s what’s happened,” Mr Erskine said.

“He did go on these ridiculous sort of diets … and was just finishing one, where he basically only ate fluids for 14 days, and he’d done this three or four times.”

Warne, who famously ordered Baked Beans to be sent to India when he was on tour there as a player, had been sweating and suffering chest pain in the lead-up to his death, Mr Erskine confirmed.

Royal Thai Police revealed on Saturday night that Warne had visited a doctor because of a heart problem before he travelled to Thailand.

There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs in Warne’s room.

Friends said he did not do illegal drugs, and the cricketer had said that publicly.

He would go through periods of drinking, with double vodkas with red bulls one of his favourites, while at other times would go on health kicks, abstaining from alcohol.

– with Sawitree Jang Wongketjai

Originally published as Shane Warne death: Cricket legend’s body involved in shock potential security breach