Dakar 2009 – French biker found dead
“The result of the autopsy showed that the cause of death was cardio-respiratory failure brought on by a pulmonary edema which had its origin in a pre-existing cardiograph,'' said Manuel Alvarez, who confirmed the official result of the post-mortem revealed by police on Wednesday.
Terry, 49, disappeared while taking part in the second stage of the race between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn on Sunday.
His body was discovered on Wednesday lying 50 meters from his machine before the tragedy led to claims that his life could have been saved had he been rescued.
“Officially the result of the autopsy revealed that the French rider Terry died of pulmonary edema … which produced cardio-respiratory failure,'' Julio Acosta, chief of the department of operations of the La Pampa provincial police, said on Wednesday.
“The death of the rider occurred between Monday and Tuesday morning….he could have been saved, if he had been rescued in time.''
He added that confusion over whether or not Terry had arrived at the Nequen camp on Sunday delayed the start of the search.
“The search was not started immediately, that same Sunday, because Terry checked into the Neuquen camp, but it wasn't Pascal but his brother, who is also competing in the rally,'' Acosta said. Fox Sports
01/07/09 French rider Pascal Terry has been found dead on the route of the Dakar rally after being missing since Sunday's second stage.
The 49-year-old Terry was found dead overnight after the fourth stage of the grueling race, which is taking place for the first time in South America. He had been missing since Sunday's second stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madrid.
"The motorcyclist was found in an area that is very inaccessible with very dense vegetation 15 meters from his bike," race organizers said.
"He had taken off his helmet and had taken shelter with food and water next to him."
Terry had informed race control on Sunday that his Yamaha had run out of petrol at the 197 kilometer mark, but that he had procured some from another competitor.
Organizers later tried to contact him on two occasions, but were unable to get any response.
Search operations were launched the following day, but they were unable to locate Terry until early on Wednesday morning when he was found dead by local police.
Police are carrying out an investigation to determine the cause of death. Yahoo! Eurosport