King Tut was killed in a chariot race at the age of 19, according to a new discovery. The mummy of King Tut later spontaneously combusted after the chariot race. How did scientists solve the 100-year-old mystery of King Tut's death?

Researchers recently had the opportunity to study the 3,000-year-old mummy of King Tutankhamun, more popularly known as the Egyptian Pharaoh King Tut, which was discovered in 1922, according to Yahoo! News.

Scientists discovered that King Tut was killed in a chariot race at the age of 19.

Experts performed a "virtual autopsy" on the mummy of King Tut and confirmed that Tut's injuries were consistent with someone whose body was smashed by a chariot, Yahoo! News reports. His ribs and pelvis were shattered and his heart was crushed.

They said his heart was damaged beyond repair, which is why King Tut's mummy is the only pharaoh missing a heart, CNEWS reports.

Car-crash investigators created computer simulations of chariot accidents, and suggested that a chariot smashed into him while he was on his knees, The Independent reports.

Scientists also found that King Tut's body was burned due to a botched mummification and embalming procedure. This caused the flesh to spontaneously combust.

The Independent reports: "Researchers discovered that embalming oils combined with oxygen and linen caused a chemical reaction which "cooked" the king's body at temperatures of more than 200C. Dr. Chris Naunton said: 'The charring and possibility that a botched mummification led the body spontaneously combusting shortly after burial was entirely unexpected, something of a revelation.'"

Prior to this discovery, there were several theories as to how King Tut died at the age of 19, ranging from the mundane to the elaborate, including that he had temporal lobe epilepsy, malaria, an infection from a broken leg, or that he had been murdered, CNEWS reports.

The research will be presented Sunday in a television special on the U.K.'s Channel 4 called "Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Burnt Mummy."