Woolmer was strangled to death: police

Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled to death in his hotel room during the World Cup, the Jamaica Police have said.

"The official report from the pathologist states that Mr. Woolmer's death was due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation," Police spokesman Karl Angell read out from a statement.

"In these circumstances, the matter of Mr. Woolmer's death is now being treated by the Jamaican police as murder," he added.

• The Bob Woolmer murder story

Meanwhile, International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed, who was present in the press conference, announced that the World Cup would continue despite the development.

Chris Dehring, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the World Cup 2007, also assured that there was adequate security measure for the event.

"We have reviewed the security arrangements in place and we feel that are adequate," he said.

Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy commissioner of police who is heading the investigation, did not disclose how his team would approach the job and said, "We have a lot of lines of inquiry but there are no suspects."

Woolmer was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on Sunday and was later pronounced dead at the University Hospital of the West Indies, a day after Pakistan was knocked out of the World Cup.

Earlier Thursday, Pakistani players were questioned and their fingerprints were taken before they were allowed to leave for Montego Bay.