Hitler might not have died in a bunker: scientists

Historians and scientist have long held that Hitler took cyanide and shot himself in an underground bunker on 30 April 1945 to escape being caught by Russians.

A piece of skull touted to be Hitler's, complete with bullet hole, had been taken from outside the Fuhrer's bunker by the Russian Army and preserved by Soviet intelligence, the Daily Mail reported.

But, DNA analysis of the skull fragment by American scientists has found it to be of a woman under 40. Hitler was 56 in April 1945.

"We know the skull corresponds to a woman between the ages of 20 and 40," said  University of Connecticut archaeologist Nick Bellantoni.

"The bone seemed very thin; male bone tends to be more robust. And the sutures  where the skull plates come together seemed to correspond to someone under  40."

Bellantoni, whose findings were telecasted in History Channel in US, flew to Moscow to take DNA swabs at the State Archive and was also shown the bloodstained remains of the bunker sofa on which Hitler and Braun were believed to have killed themselves.

"I had the reference photos the Soviets took of the sofa in 1945 and I was seeing the exact same stains on the fragments of wood and fabric in front of  me, so I knew I was working with the real thing," he said.