Viola Beach car crash: Driver '˜acted intentionally', say Swedish police

SWEDISH police investigating the deaths of indie band Viola Beach and their manager in a car crash have said that the vehicle may have acted deliberately, according to a Swedish newspaper.

Viola Beach and their manager were killed in a car accident in February. Picture: Facebook

CCTV footage taken from the scene of the crash in Södertälje was reconstructed by Aftonbladet, which concludes that the hired Nissan Qashqai the five victims were travelling in had driven past several stopped vehicles as the bridge was raised to allow an oil tanker to pass.

The video, based on footage recorded on February 13, the day of the crash, shows the Nissan pull past two other vehicles waiting at a barrier and driving onto the hard shoulder before disappearing from view.

“We can’t find any secondary explanation,” Lars Berglund, a police officer, told Aftonbladet. “It looked like the driver acted deliberately.”

The warning lights and barriers would have been visible to the driver, and the car was nearly new.

After accelerating through the barrier, the Qashqai struck the bridge and plunged into the water below.

Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarry, aged between 19 and 35, died in the incident. The Warrington band was due to play its first ever show outside the UK.

The driver’s identity has not been revealed. A toxicology report conducted by Swedish authorities last month indicated no illicit substances were discovered in the driver’s blood.

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