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Death ruled accidental in desert crash from December

The death of a man killed in single-vehicle crash in December was ruled accidental on Tuesday, according to Nevada Highway Patrol.

It happened about 8:50 p.m. Dec. 19. NHP troopers responded to a vehicle fire in the desert along State Route 160, near mile marker 31 in Clark County, about halfway between Las Vegas and Pahrump.

The driver, identified as 26-year-old Edwin Gichuki of Linden, N.J., was pulled from a burning white BMW 528i, NHP said. He was taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas. He died about 12 hours later.

Gichuki’s death was investigated as a suicide, and no toxicology test was performed, NHP spokesman Sergeant Alan Davidson.

Traffic investigators said the BMW was headed south when it swerved, overcorrected and crashed into a fence. It then caught fire.

Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.

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