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Thai authorities conduct autopsies on slain British tourists

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Chief of the Forensic Police Institute Pornchai Suteerakune updates reporters on the deaths of two British tourists who were found dead on a beach in Koh Tao, a popular diving destination in the Gulf of Thailand, in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Police on the scenic Thai resort island searched hotels and workers' residences Tuesday looking for clues into the slayings of the tourists whose nearly naked, battered bodies were found on a beach a day earlier.(AP photo/Sakchai Lalit) (The Associated Press)

A Thai police officer stands outside a ceremony room as British Embassy officials are inside to examine the condition of the bodies of two murdered British tourists and to report it to their families at the Forensic Police Institute in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Police on the scenic Thai resort island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand searched hotels and workers' residences Tuesday looking for clues into the slayings of two British tourists whose nearly naked, battered bodies were found on a beach a day earlier. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) (The Associated Press)

British Embassy officials arrive at the Forensic Police Institute to examine the condition of the bodies of two murdered British tourists in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Police on a scenic Thai resort island searched hotels and workers' residences Tuesday looking for clues into the slayings of the tourists whose nearly naked, battered bodies were found on a beach a day earlier. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) (The Associated Press)

Authorities in Thailand have conducted autopsies on two British tourists whose bludgeoned bodies were found on a scenic resort island this week.

Police Maj. Gen. Pornchai Suteerakune, commander of the Royal Thai Police's Institute of Forensic Medicine, says DNA samples have also been collected from several people who were among those in the area where the killings occurred on Koh Tao.

Police have so far made no arrests but are hoping to match the samples with DNA evidence collected from the corpses.

Pornchai told reporters Wednesday that the autopsy showed that 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge died from head wounds while 24-year-old David Miller had suffered severe blows to the head and drowned in the surf.

Koh Tao is a popular diving destination in the Gulf of Thailand.