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Death Of The Cranberries Singer Dolores O'Riordan Ruled To Be Accidental
"I saw Mrs. O'Riordan submerged in the bath with her nose and mouth fully under the water," said the coroner, who found the singer to be significantly drunk.
The death of Dolores O'Riordan, the lead singer of the popular Irish rock group The Cranberries, has been officially ruled as accidental.
O'Riordan passed away at the age of 46 on Jan. 15, 2018 after drowning due to alcohol intoxication at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane in London, according to CNN. It was unclear at the time if the death was a suicide. Now, an inquest from the Westminster Coroner's Court has officially determined that the death was not the result of O'Riordan attempting to take her own life, as ruled by coroner Shirley Radcliffe.
Radcliffe described the death as "tragic ... I saw Mrs O'Riordan submerged in the bath with her nose and mouth fully under the water," according to the BBC.
The singer had been in London for a recording session, according to a statement from her publicist. Police officer Natalie Smart, who been at the crime scene, said O'Riordan had been found in the bath at her hotel room. Five miniature bottles of liquor and a bottle of champagne were found at the scene, along with containers of prescription drugs.
Toxicology reports showed that O'Riordan had not had lethal amounts of drugs in her system at the time of her death, but had been fairly intoxicated on alcohol.
O'Riordan had spoken to her psychiatrist, Dr. Seamus O Ceallaigh on Jan. 9 — days before the accident. O Ceallaigh described her as in "good spirits," according to the BBC.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins had mourned the loss of the artist at the time of her death, describing the event as "a big loss" to the Irish arts community, according to CNN.
Ahead of her death, O'Riordan had canceled several tour dates in 2017 due to back problems, according to CNN.
The band mourned their fallen friend in a joint statement.
"Today we continue to struggle to come to terms with what happened. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Dolores' children and her family and our thoughts are with them today. Dolores will live on eternally in her music. To see how much of a positive impact she had on people's lives has been a source of great comfort to us. We'd like to say thank you to all of our fans for the outpouring of messages and their continued support during this very difficult time. We request, please, for our privacy to be respected at this time," they said, according to the BBC.
The Cranberries had been hugely influential in the post-punk and grunge scenes of the 1990's. Their hit single "Zombie" had even garnered a "Best Song" award at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards. O'Riordan had gone solo in 2007 but rejoined the band in 2009.
[Photo: The Cranberries by Carlos Alvarez / Getty Images]
