No foul play suspected: Chinese engineer found dead at embassy

Police seek permission to conduct an autopsy

ISLAMABAD: The body of a Chinese engineer was discovered inside his room at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, police stated on Monday. Initial investigations, however, do not suggest any foul play.

Officials said that 36-year-old engineer Yan Peng, hailing from the Hebei province near Beijing, was working at the embassy as a construction engineer. He had been provided with his own room inside the embassy compound.



Since there was no work for the last few days, Peng had been keeping to his room and no one had gone to check on him.

On Sunday night, the embassy staff noticed a foul stench emanating from his room. When they checked, they found that Peng was dead.

Police said a Chinese consul brought Peng’s body to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital on Monday, where hospital officials placed the body in the mortuary.

Meanwhile, the police said they had written to the Chinese embassy, seeking permission to investigate the case and order a post-mortem examination of the body, if needed.

Police can only investigate the death if the embassy requests so.

A homicide investigator told The Express Tribune that as per the initial medical opinion of doctors at Pims, the Chinese national had a history of blood pressure problems and had probably died of natural causes. However, an autopsy was required to determine the exact cause of death.



There were unverified suggestions that his body had been in the room for 12 days before being discovered.

Earlier this year, a Chinese woman was killed after being fatally injured by robbers in her Sector G-10 home.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2018.