BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) — The main suspect in the attack on US basketball player Chauncey Hardy, who died Sunday in Romania, has turned himself in, Romanian police said yesterday.

The suspect aged 25 was detained for “inflicting deadly blows” on the former Sacred Heart University player from Connecticut and will be taken before a judge called upon to deliver a 29-day arrest warrant.

Hardy, 23, who played for CSS Giurgiu, in southern Romania, was beaten up in a bar Saturday night, while he was celebrating victory over rivals Dinamo Bucharest

The player, who had sustained severe head injuries, was admitted to a local hospital, where doctors suspected he was in an alcoholic coma.

Later in the day he was transferred to a Bucharest hospital and underwent surgery. But he died shortly after.

The ministry of health said it had ordered an investigation, fearing medical procedures may not have been observed.

The interior ministry sent two high-ranking policemen to Giurgiu to take part in the inquiry and criticised local police for failing to properly inform the media and the public about the incident.

The US embassy voiced its concern over the circumstances of the death and said it would carefully monitor the investigation.