Was Australian scientist victim of curse?

SYDNEY, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A biologist's death has caused talk about a curse attached to the body of a Neolithic man found frozen in the Italian Alps 14 years ago.

Tom Loy, who analyzed DNA from the body, had a blood disease and was in bad health, his brother told an Australian newspaper.

The BBC said a number of people linked with the Iceman -- sometimes known by his other nickname, Oetzi -- have died. That includes Helmut Simon, the climber who discovered the Iceman, who was killed in a blizzard last year not far from the place where the body turned up.

Others who have died include forensic pathologist Rainer Henn, dead in a car crash; Kurt Fritz, a mountaineer who worked with Henn, and died in an avalanche; Rainer Holz, who died of a brain tumor shortly after completing a documentary on the Iceman; Konrad Spindler, an archaeologist who became one of the leading expert on the body and died of complications from multiple sclerosis.

Of course, eventually, 100 percent of those involved with the Iceman will be dead. One of Loy's colleagues told The Australian the biologist did not believe in any curse.

"It was just superstition," the colleague said. "People die."