By Richard Shears
Last updated at 10:31 AM on 10th April 2011
www.dailymail.co.uk
A leading British banker has died after a dramatic plunge from the rooftop bar of a luxury Singapore hotel.
William Hart, head of sales at the Bank of China International in Singapore, fell from the seventh-floor bar of the boutique hotel after witnesses said he had climbed over a metal railing and glass barrier.
Police will tomorrow continue their inquiries into the death of the 37-year-old , which a spokesman described as 'mysterious and needing a full investigation'.
The case has been officially listed as 'an unnatural death'.
Police rushed to the waterfront after receiving an emergency call but Mr Hart's body could not be found immediately.
The search moved further up the Singapore River and his body was found about two hours later near the river bank.
A Singapore newspaper reported today that while it remains unclear how Mr Hart fell, one theory is that he had leaped from the rooftop in a game of dare.
Mr Hart's father has flown to Singapore from Hong Kong to collect the body of his son, who died shortly before midnight on Thursday.
It was only at the weekend that the first details of his death began to emerge.
Mr Hart was drinking with a group of people at Lantern, a bar at the top of the five-star Fullerton Bay Hotel, the newest hotel to be added to the Marina Bay waterfront.
It has spectacular views of the bay and the Singapore skyline and is a popular meeting place for ex-patriates working in the island republic.
Mr Giovanni Viterale, the hotel's general manager, told Singapore's Sunday Times newspaper that Mr Hart was with three other people, one of whom is believed to be a friend visiting from Canada.
There were almost 200 people at the bar when the incident happened, said Mr Viterale.
Mr Hart was not a regular customer there, he added.
Mr Viterale said no staff members had noticed Mr Hart climbing over the railing.
If that had been the case, he said 'we would have taken immediate and preventative action.'
