Magisterial inquiry concluded

The magisterial inquiry into the death in hospital of a Norwegian 14-year-old girl was concluded yesterday and the corpse is to be returned to her homeland in the coming days, the police said.

The health division had said on August 13 that its internal inquiry had been completed and that the results would be published once the magisterial inquiry was concluded. The results would be published to avoid speculation, the division had said.

The division said yesterday it was not in a position to comment on the matter as yet.

The body of the girl, Marie-Line Andersen, could not be released before the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry.

Dag Gaasland, spokesman for the Andersen family, said the family was in the process of organising her return to Norway and that her funeral was expected to take place on Thursday or Friday.

Miss Andersen, who came to Malta to study English, was admitted to hospital on July 29 and died a few days later. A post-mortem revealed that her death was caused by intracranial haemorrhage.

Sources said yesterday the health department's inquiry was expected to show that one of the hospital tests carried out on the girl had established the presence of traces of illegal substances.

"There are still, however, a number of questions which need to be asked. The Andersen case is not a straightforward one," the sources said.

The police said that even though the inquiry had been concluded it was possible that investigations would continue.

Mr Gaasland had said there were still a lot of question marks in connection with the case especially as many "contradictory statements" had been made.

However, Mr Gaasland said the family and friends of the girl had "completely ruled out" the use of drugs.

Miss Andersen was a member of the Norwegian Olympic team, which is expected to hold a brief remembrance ceremony when the team next convenes on August 31.