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The body of a New Zealand teenager who died after falling out a window in London last weekend is to be released to his family.
Ross Kimpton, 17, a flanker in Howick College's 1st XV, died just 48 hours after the team arrived for their school holiday tour.
A spokeswoman at the Westminster Coroner's office said an inquest into his death would be opened at the Coroner's Court today, allowing his body to be released to his family.
The hearing into the circumstances surrounding his death would be held some months down the track, she said.
Ross was part of the three-week tour of 24 players and 15 management staff originally involved in two matches in Britain and three in Ireland.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said it appeared he fell from a fourth-storey window of the team's hostel in Norfolk Square, near Paddington Station and Hyde Park.
Howick College acting principal Sheryll Ofner said up to 18 team members had been found drinking alcohol in their hostel room, but the two incidents did not appear to be connected.
A unanimous decision had been made for the trip to continue, she said, but the first game scheduled had been cancelled.
- NZPA