New York’s chief medical examiner said Friday that the former US president’s first wife, Ivana Trump, died of a torso injury in an accident.
The statement did not specify circumstances, but US media reported that police were investigating whether the 73-year-old died after falling down stairs at her Manhattan home.
A spokeswoman for the New York Police Department told AFP in an emailed statement on Thursday that officers responded to a call to Ivana Trump’s address on the Upper East Side, and found her “unconscious and unresponsive”.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the statement said “there appears to be no criminality.”
Donald Trump announced her death on Thursday, calling her a “wonderful, beautiful and wonderful woman who led a great and inspirational life.”
He said his “pride and happiness” was the couple’s three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump.
Ivana Trump, a model who grew up under communist rule in former Czechoslovakia, married Donald Trump, a budding real estate developer, in 1977.
Their first child, Donald Jr., was born later that year. Ivanka was born in 1981 and Eric in 1984.
During the ’80s, the Trumps were one of New York’s most high-profile couples, their extravagant lifestyle exemplifying the decade’s flashy excesses.
Read also| Donald Trump’s first wife Ivana Trump dies at the age of 73
As Donald Trump’s property business grew to his power and celebrity, Ivana Trump played several important roles in the business.
Their high-profile split, rumored to be caused by Donald Trump’s affair with actress Marla Maples, provided juicy material for New York tabloids.
Donald Trump and Ivana Trump divorced in the early ’90s, and the future president married Maples in 1993.
Ivana Trump has enjoyed a successful business career of her own, developing clothing, jewelry and beauty products, and writing several books.
She was married four times in her life, once before her marriage to Donald Trump and twice after.
On Friday, a US justice official said a New York civil investigation into Donald Trump, Donald Jr. and Ivanka’s allegations of alleged fraud in their family business was postponed following their deaths.
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