Prosecutors close investigation into Muriel Furrer's death

The Zurich public prosecutor's office announced on Monday that it had finished its investigation into the death of Muriel Furrer, the 18-year-old who died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash in the junior women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in 2024. "The accident occurred at approximately 11:04 a.m., out of sight of support vehicles, race officials, spectators, and marshals," said a statement from the prosecutor's office. "The injured cyclist lay hidden in the undergrowth and was not visible from the road. As was customary at previous editions of this World Cycling Championship, live tracking of all athletes was not used at the event. Therefore, the sudden disappearance of an athlete was not automatically reported. Due to these circumstances, the injured cyclist was not discovered until 12:26 p.m." Emergency personnel arrived soon after Furrer was found, but she later died in the hospital. Over the course of the investigation into the circumstances of the crash, the prosecutor's office found that "no third-party involvement in the cyclist's fall could be established, nor could any criminally relevant breach of duty be found in connection with course safety or emergency assistance after the accident."