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Viola Beach did not suffer but reason for fatal crash remains a mystery

By | Published on Thursday 8 December 2016

Viola Beach

An inquest into the deaths of the members of Viola Beach and their manager Craig Tarry in February this year has heard that “none of the young men will have suffered” after the car they were travelling in drove into a canal in Sweden. However, the exact reason for their accident remains unclear.

Post-mortem examinations showed that no alcohol or drugs were in driver Tarry’s bloodstream, while the four band members had only consumed small amounts of alcohol, reports the BBC. Before falling 25 metres into the canal, the car drove past waiting traffic and a number of barriers and warnings that the bridge in front of them was being raised to let a boat through. The car was driven in a “controlled manner” before striking the raising bridge and falling into the water below.

All causes of death were recorded as head injuries, apart from bassist Tomas Lowe whose death was recorded as drowning. However, Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said “none of the young men will have suffered” as they died.

No errors were found with the car, barriers or procedure for raising the bridge. According to The Guardian, Rheinberg recorded a verdict of death by road traffic accident. Calling the incident an “awful tragedy”, he acknowledged that the exact circumstances of the crash may forever remain a mystery, adding: “It’s not for me to speculate what happened; it may never be known what happened”.



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