Woolmer's room attracts tourists

Kingston:

Fourteen months after Bob Woolmer's death, Room No. 374 of the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, has turned into a hot tourist destination.

During the cricket World Cup in the Caribbean in March last year, the former Pakistan coach had breathed his last in that room in suspicious circumstances.

The hotel authorities may have refurbished the room where Woolmer died, but that has not stopped fans and tourists from inquiring about it.

"We have had quite a few occasions where people have asked to stay in the Woolmer room... and others have asked to stay on the same (12th) floor," hotel manager Eldon Bremner was quoted as saying in the Courier Mail.

"Woolmer's death here has not affected business and bookings are high. We thought about closing the room or even dedicating it to Mr Woolmer. But I didn't think that was appropriate to his memory, and I also did not want to offend his family," he said.

Woolmer died on March 18 last year just a few hours after Pakistan lost to lowly Ireland to be eliminated from the World Cup. His death was declared a murder by investigating officer Mark Shields but it could not be substantiated with evidences.

Later, an inquest into Woolmer's death returned an open verdict.

Well-known West Indies commentator Tony Cozier says Woolmer's death never looked like a murder.

"All the people in the know knew it wasn't murder from the start. There were reports from pathologists who weren't really pathologists and the whole thing was stuffed up. It was all really very sad," he said.