A British man who died after falling from the sixth floor of a hotel on Tuesday did not commit suicide, according to the city's British consulate.

"The preliminary investigation revealed that the man might have slipped and fell out of the hotel," said a consulate spokeswoman.

"Police did find a letter left by him, but it was addressed to a friend and described his visit to Shanghai, and did not include any hint of suicide."

At about 5:40am on Tuesday, a cleaner who was collecting garbage along a small lane behind the hotel, called Dadushi, saw something fall and then heard a loud bang, he was quoted as saying in the Shanghai Morning Post.

The cleaner then found a blond-haired man lying in the street with blood covering his head.

Another witness said the dead man's head hit the ground first, after which he was motionless.

Two old women who were in the area doing their morning exercises called the police.

In the room the man was staying in police found a letter and a half-drunk bottle of wine.

People at the hotel said the police claimed it was suicide. They suggested the letter mentioned a connection between the incident and a failed love affair, according to quotes in the Shanghai Morning Post.

Ma Lanjing, an official from the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, said the bureau had not found any evidence indicating the man was pushed.

The exact reason for his death is still under investigation.

The young man was later identified as Thomas Nicholas Charles, 23, who went to Shanghai at the beginning of the month. He had a tourist visa.

(China Daily June 16, 2005)