Sean Wainui’s death being treated as a suspected SUICIDE – coroner

The tragic death of Maori All Blacks star Sean Wainui in a car accident last week being treated as a “suspected suicide”, authorities in New Zealand said on Tuesday.

He was 25.

READ | FAF DE KLERK HAS SUCCESSFUL HIP SURGERY – ON HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY!

Wainui died in a single-vehicle accident on Monday, 18 October when his vehicle hit a tree.

Wainui, who won the U20 World Cup with New Zealand in 2015, made his Super Rugby debut with the Crusaders in 2016 before moving to the Chiefs in 2018.

READ | LOST TO SA: LIONS PROP PACKS HIS BAGS AND HEADS TO SCOTLAND

Coroner Louella Dunn told the New Zealand’s Stuff website that Sean Wainui’s death “was being treated as a suspected suicide”.

Police were notified at 07:50 on the day that a vehicle had crashed into a tree at McLaren Falls Park near Tauranga on New Zealand’s North Island.

READ | DID WORLD RUGBY JUST CONFIRM RASSIE ERASMUS WAS RIGHT?

The All Blacks performed a haka in Wainui’s memory ahead of their 104-14 win against the United States in Washington last Saturday.

A Givealittle page launched by Sean Wainui’s Super Rugby team, the Chiefs, has raised more than NZ$270 000 (R2.9 million).

All the proceeds will go directly to his wife Paige and their children Kawariki and Arahia.

WATCH | ELTON JANTJIES ‘RED CARDED’ DURING MONTPELLIER’S WIN