This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/15/viola-beach-deaths-swedish-police-examine-car-and-barrier

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Viola Beach deaths: Swedish police examine car and barrier Viola Beach deaths: Swedish police examine car and barrier
(about 2 hours later)
Postmortem examinations are due to be carried out on the bodies of four members of the indie band Viola Beach and their manager who were killed when their hire car plummeted 25 metres from a bridge into a canal near Stockholm. Swedish police have confirmed they are looking at whether the unidentified driver was to blame for his own death and that of four others when the indie band Viola Beach and their manager plummeted 25 metres from a bridge into a canal near Stockholm.
The five men – Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarrand, aged between 19 and 35 – died in the early hours of Saturday morning after the band had played their first foreign gig. Postmortem examinations are due to be carried out on the bodies of the five men recovered from the mangled hire car they were travelling in.
Swedish police are reportedly exploring four lines of inquiry. The heavily damaged Nissan Qashqai hire car that they were travelling is being examined for possible technical faults Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarrand, aged between 19 and 35, died in the early hours of Saturday morning after the band had played their first foreign gig.
, and the icy weather conditions and operation of a barrier and its warning systems are also been looked at. Carina Skagerlind, a press spokesperson for Stockholm police told the Guardian: “We are looking at all the possible causes.”
The barrier the hire car drove through before falling from the bridge has been taken away as part of the investigation. Witnesses said barriers were down and warning lights were flashing when the accident happened. Other drivers were waiting for two sets of safety barriers over the canal crossing to be lifted. She added: “We have a term in Sweden that if a person who is driving is to blame for the deaths, we call that causing death of others. And that could be the case here. We are looking at that. But who would we prosecute because everyone in the car is dead?”
Skagerlind said: “We haven’t identified the driver yet, that is part of the investigation.”
She confirmed the autopsies would help determine whether the driver had been intoxicated at the time of the accident. Skagerlind said: “The autopsies will be carried out as soon as possible, but they have not been done yet. It is five person and it can take a while so we don’t know when the results will be released. They are doing it as fast they can.”
She added: “There are hundreds of possibilities,” she said. “We are looking at the car, we are looking at the circumstances, we are talking to witnesses. We don’t have any answers yet and we have to look at everything.|
The Nissan Qashqai hire car in which the band were travelling to the airport is being examined for possible technical faults, Skagerlind said. “The car is being examined we have taken it out of the water. They are looking at it now,” she said.
The icy weather conditions and the operation of a barrier and its warning systems are also been examined as possible causes. Skagerlind said: “We are looking at the barrier. We have to put new barriers on the bridge and had to take the old ones away.”
Witnesses said barriers were down and warning lights were flashing when the accident happened. Other drivers were waiting for two sets of safety barriers over the canal crossing to be lifted.
Police said the band’s car fell through a gap that had opened to let a boat pass through. Witnesses told Swedish media said the car drove at full speed past other stationary cars and disappeared into the darkness.Police said the band’s car fell through a gap that had opened to let a boat pass through. Witnesses told Swedish media said the car drove at full speed past other stationary cars and disappeared into the darkness.
“To get into the water, a car must get past a red light and two barriers,” said Daniel Lindblad, of the Swedish maritime administration, which always checks with the road transport administration before the bridge is opened to allow ships through. “The red light and the first barrier is just over 100 metres from the lifting part of the bridge. The second barrier is much closer to the edge.”“To get into the water, a car must get past a red light and two barriers,” said Daniel Lindblad, of the Swedish maritime administration, which always checks with the road transport administration before the bridge is opened to allow ships through. “The red light and the first barrier is just over 100 metres from the lifting part of the bridge. The second barrier is much closer to the edge.”