British indie band die after car plunges off bridge in Sweden

A British rockband have been killed after their car plunged more than 80ft from a bridge in Sweden.

Four of the men in the car were members of up-and-coming indie band Viola Beach, while the fifth man was their manager.

The band had been in Sweden to perform at the Where’s the Music? festival in Norrköping.

Guitarist and vocalist Kris Leonard, guitarist River Reeves, bassist Tomas Lowe, drummer Jack Dakin, and manager Craig Tarry were among the dead.

Police spokeswoman Eva Nilsson said the victims were all believed to be men aged between 19 and 35.

Locals suggest they died after the car veered off a bridge, smashing into a road barrier before plunging into a canal.

The crash, which happened in the early hours of Saturday morning, on the E4 highway in Stockholm's Sodertalje district, is understood to have happened as the bridge over the Södertälje canal was closing after it had opened to let a vessel through.

Local sources said warning lamps were flashing on the bridge and two barriers were blocking the road.

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

Drivers of other cars were waiting behind the barrier but it is not yet known whether a boat had already passed or was waiting to pass.

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

Mr Bergholm said it was not yet known whether the five men were wearing seatbelts but added: "That would not have helped them."

Police received a call at about 2.30am and were first to arrive on the scene, a "maximum five minutes" later.