Pakistan now says Bhutto died of fractured skull, not bullet wounds

Benazir Bhutto died from a skull fracture suffered when she hit her head during a suicide attack, not from bullet wounds, the Interior Ministry said Friday.

Authorities on Thursday said she died from bullet wounds fired by a young man who then blew himself up, killing 20 other people. A surgeon who treated her said Friday she died from the impact of shrapnel on her skull.

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But later Friday, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said all three shots missed her as she greeted supporters through the sunroof of her vehicle, which was bulletproof and bombproof.

He also denied that shrapnel caused her death, saying Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull.

Cheema showed reporters a videotape of the attack, which showed Bhutto waving, smiling and chatting with supporters from the sunroof as her car sat unmoving on the street outside the rally. Then, three gunshots rang out, the camera appeared to fall and the tape ended.