South African ambassador dies after falling from Paris hotel room

Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa, who was reported missing on Monday, was found dead near the Hyatt Hotel at Porte Maillot in Paris on Tuesday, sources told Le Parisien.

Mr Mthethwa, 58, was reported missing by his wife after she received a “worrying message in the evening”, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. Fearing that he had taken his own life, the police started a search party in the woods in western Paris.

Mr Mthethwa was appointed to the role in February last year. He also served as South Africa’s permanent delegate to Unesco after a decades-long career in politics.