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British band members and their manager killed after car plunges off bridge in Sweden

All four members of British indie band Viola Beach and their manager have been killed after their...
Newstalk
Newstalk

10.08 14 Feb 2016


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British band members and their...

British band members and their manager killed after car plunges off bridge in Sweden

Newstalk
Newstalk

10.08 14 Feb 2016


Share this article


All four members of British indie band Viola Beach and their manager have been killed after their car plunged off a bridge in Sweden.

Their Nissan Qashqai crashed through a motorway bridge barrier at Sodertalje and fell more than 80ft into a canal.

Police divers recovered the bodies of singer Kris Leonard, guitarist River Reeves, bassist Tomas Lowe, drummer Jack Dakin and the band's manager Craig Tarry, from the water, around 40km from Stockholm.

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The Warrington group had played a gig in Sweden on Friday night, according to their Facebook page.

They were due back in the UK to play in Guildford, Surrey, on Saturday night with the band Blossoms, but the venue said the gig had been cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Tributes have been paid on social media.

British band The Enemy wrote:

The Coral's James Skelly posted: "So sorry to hear about viola beach and Craig tarry's accident so sad, their families must be devastated."

Gemma Hepworth, a friend of Mr Tarry, said he was a life-long Manchester City fan who "never gave up on his dream" of working in the music industry.

She said friends would be paying tribute to him by clapping in the fifth minute at City's game against Tottenham today.

Crash

The band's car crashed through a barrier after the bridge - at the Saltskogs junction, between the E4 and the E20 motorways - opened to let a boat pass.

The bridge has a middle section that rises upwards, leaving a gap that the car drove into.

Officers said a barrier, 50 metres before the gap, has flashing lights and signs warning there is a bridge opening.

Swedish police spokesman Martin Bergholm said: "For some reason, the car drove through the barriers and crashed down into the canal."

He added: "The witnesses just saw a car beside them and kind of disappear."

He said it is not yet known whether the men were wearing seatbelts, but added: "That would not have helped them."

Police received a call at 2.30am on Saturday local time, and arrived at the scene five minutes later.

Divers found the car and three bodies. They found the other two bodies an hour later.

They were identified from the passports they were carrying.

The Foreign Office confirmed the deaths of five Britons and said their families were being supported.


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