The Malaysian court looking into the death of Dutch model Ivana Smit has ruled that her death was an accident, according to the lawyer for her family Sebas Diekstra.

Ivana was found dead beneath a 20th-storey balcony at an apartment block in the capital Kuala Lumpur on December 7 2017. The 18-year-old was visiting an American couple in the flats after spending a night on the town.

The Malaysian authorities first said her death was an accident, but a Dutch pathologist who examined her body found discrepancies with the official version of events. Frank de Goot said he found injuries that had been inflicted before she fell from the balcony and a lack of blood at the spot where she was found, suggesting she was already dead.

The girl’s family are also convinced Ivana’s death was not an accident and offered a reward of $50,000 to anyone who can provide information that helps to trace the person responsible.

‘The judge has considered the option of a crime, given that there are a number of indications, but said she could not establish what had happened between Ivan and the couple,’ Diekstra is quoted as saying.

The couple have denied any involvement in her death but questions have also been raised about their testimony. It later emerged that they had cleaned their apartment after Ivana’s death.