A Tamil asylum seeker killed in a hit-and-run on Sunday died of multiple injuries, police said today as they continued their hunt for the driver who killed him.

Jeyaratnam Kandiah suffered chest, abdominal and head injuries when he was mowed down on a pedestrian crossing in Shirley, a postmortem examination found yesterday.

The 43-year-old, said by friends fled to the UK from conflict in Sri Lanka, was struck in Wickham Road at 8.50pm as he walked to his house in nearby Spring Park Road.

Croydon hit-and-run victim was asylum seeker who escaped war-torn Sri Lanka

Detectives are still looking for the driver of the dark BMW that killed him, which sped away following the collision.

Witnesses said Mr Kandiah, known as Selvam by friends in Croydon, was sent "spinning more than 10ft in the air" by the car, which one bystander estimated was travelling at 60mph.

Doctors pronounced him dead at the roadside 40 minutes after he was hit.

Flowers and a photograph bearing the words "RIP Selvam" have been left at the spot he was killed.

Siva Arun, a close friend and the last person to see Mr Kandiah alive, told the Croydon Guardian on Monday: "We had dinner and then he went home and it was then that he was hit. 

"The police knocked at my door at two o'clock in the morning. I was really shocked. My colleague and I identified him."

The 43-year-old estate agent added: "We were very good friends. He was very charming and very fun-loving."

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Tributes have been left at the spot Mr Kandiah died

He said Mr Kandiah had moved from Jaffna, in northern Sri Lana, to escape "trouble with the Government" 14 years ago and had lived in Croydon for eight years.

Mr Kandiah's mother, who lives in Canada, and sister, in Switzerland, have been told of his death but he has not yet been formally identified.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's serious collision investigation unit this afternoon appealed with information to contact them.

They believe the BMW involved suffered frontal damage in the collision.

Anyone with information can call police on 020 8285 1574 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.