Chile: Salvador Allende's death ruled as suicide

An autopsy has confirmed that president Salvador Allende committed suicide (AP)

A judge in Chile has closed the case on the death of President Salvador Allende after an authoritative autopsy confirmed it was suicide.

An international panel of experts convened by Judge Mario Carroza determined that Mr Allende took his own life with an AK-47 while defending the presidential palace in Chile's 1973 coup.

Mr Carroza ruled out the possibility that a soldier or bodyguard fired the fatal shots.

He also disproved a range of other myths surrounding Mr Allende's death 38 years ago.

Mr Allende was among 726 people who died or disappeared when General Augusto Pinochet seized power, and whose cases were stuck in the courts since then.

Mr Carroza is studying these cases anew under orders from the Supreme Court.