Autopsy casts doubt on claim Swede was electrocuted at Panglao resort

Panglao
A memorandum issued by police in Panglao contradicts earlier reports issued by local lawmakers about Mr Linné’s death.

A police autopsy has cast doubt on reports that a Swedish tourist was electrocuted at a resort on Panglao Island.

According to initial reports from the Bohol Police Provincial Office on Wednesday (March 21), Bengt Gustaf Ludvig Linné, aged 59, died after treading on a wet pathway that had been exposed to a power line.

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As we reported, his girlfriend Nemia Dagsaan Baylen told investigators that she had also recieved an electric shock after going to his aid at the Hidden Dream Resort in Barangay Tawala.

Police sources also said that a member of the Bohol Tourist Police Office went to the Alona Beach resort to help switch off the power circuit breaker.

Now, however, a memorandum issued by Panglao Police Station has contradicted these claims, saying that Mr Linné died of a heart attack, unrelated to any electrocution.

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The memo, signed by Senior Inspector Romar Tuppal Labasbas, reads:

“Please be informed that at around 8.30 this morning, March 25, 2018, PCI Brunia medico legal officer of PNP regional crime laboratory office 7 conducted autopsy to the cadaver of the late Swedish national Bengt Gustaf Ludvig Linne at St Peter memorial homes Baclayon Bohol, revealed that the cause of death is SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH, LEFT VENTRICAL HYPERTROPHY. That there is no sign that the victim was electrocuted based on the allegation of his girlfriend.”

In a Facebook post shared by Bohol Flash Report, Ella Absalon described accurate media reports of the initial police reports as “fake news”. She wrote: “Professionals from all over Bohol, police and electrical engineers went to the resort to conduct a thorough investigation and concluded that it would have been impossible that the man died because of electrocution because there was no live wire exposed nor was there any danger of being electrocuted.

“If there was a live wire exposed, everyone who passed by that area should have been electrocuted because all of them were wet and the floor was covered with water as well due to the rain.”

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However, other Facebook users remain sceptical of the updated police report. Riza May Torres Barrantes, for example, wrote: “Does this mean the girlfriend lied??? or a dream when she was touched her boyfriend shocked him??”

The Hidden Dream Resort is yet to issue any public statement on the matter.

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