Inquest into Surgeon form Hertfordshire shot dead in South Africa after taking wrong turn
40-year-old Kar Hao Teoh has been described as a "valued colleague and friend"
The body of a surgeon who worked at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in consultant trauma and orthopaedics in Harlow has been repatriated to Essex.
Kar Hao Teoh, aged 40, was fatally shot in Cape Town during violent protests in South Africa.
An inquest into his death opened and adjourned today (August 24) in Chelmsford, and heard how he died of a gunshot wound to the head on August 4.
Mr Teoh, of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, was killed during violent protests in South Africa, it is believed he took a wrong turning from an airport and was then the vehicle approached by a group of people and shot.
Michelle Brown, area coroner for Essex, said: "On August 4, this 40-year-old was on holiday in South Africa with his family when an unknown person approached the car and discharged a firearm, hitting him in the head."
"The case will be adjourned off and will be heard at some point, depending on the time limits for the evidence to arrive from South Africa," she said, adding that the date for a full inquest hearing is to be confirmed.
A post-mortem examination carried out in South Africa recorded that Mr Teoh, of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, died of a gunshot to the head, Ms Brown said.
South African police have opened a murder case into the shooting, which happened in the Nyanga township.
The hospital released a statement, in which they said Mr Teoh was a "well-respected member of the team, valued colleague and friend to many across the hospital as well as in regional, national and international trauma and orthopaedic networks".
He had won an international prize in 2021 for pioneering research into treatment of ankle fractures.
There's been unrest on the outskirts of Cape Town after it was announced there would be a week-long minibus taxi driver strike.