Cause of Death for Founder of Aid Group Revealed

One of the founders of a renowned humanitarian group died as the result of a fall from his third-story apartment in Turkey, reports the BBC. A post-mortem report on James Le Mesurier, who helped launch the White Helmets group in Syria, determined his cause of death to be "general body trauma linked to a fall from a height." The 48-year-old's body was found Nov. 11 on the street outside the apartment he shared with his wife. How Le Mesurier came to fall remains unclear, but his widow, Emma Winberg, told police that he had taken sleeping pills, reports Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Winberg also told police that her husband had spoken of suicide about two weeks before his fatal fall and was taking medication for stress, according to the news outlets. The White Helmets group gained renown by helping victims of bombing raids in Syria, but the government of Syria, along with allies Russia and Iran, considered the group to be a supporter of terrorists. A week before Le Mesurier's death, Russia's foreign ministry accused him of being an ex-agent in the MI6, the UK's intelligence service. A UK diplomat called that ridiculous. (More White Helmets stories.)