Police reveal for the first time who they believe was driving the Lamborghini that k!lled Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva

 Spanish police have provided an update on the investigation surrounding the de@th of former Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, indicating who they believe to be the driver of the Lamborghini in the accident that cost them their lives.

Detectives investigating the fatal crash involving the forward's acid green Lamborghini Huracan also say tests have suggested the car was travelling 'way in excess' of the speed limit, said to be 120kmh (74mph).

 

The 28–year–old father–of–three and his younger brother Andre Silva were travelling by road to the UK after Jota was advised by doctors not to fly following surgery.

 

But the vehicle came off the road and burst into flames after what was initially suspected to be a tyre blow–out as the car performed an overtake. Both are thought to have died almost instantly.

 

In only their second official statement since last week's crash on the A–62 near Zamora, close to Spain's north–west border with Portugal, Spain's Civil Guard said it believed that Jota had been driving.

 

 

It said of the progress of its investigation: 'The expert report is still being worked on and finalised.

 

'Among other things traffic police from the Zamora branch of the Civil Guard are studying the tread marked by one of the wheels of the vehicle.

 

'Everything is also pointing to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed on that stretch of the motorway.

 

'All the tests carried out for the moment point to the driver of the crash vehicle being Diogo Jota.

 

'The expert police report when it is finalised will be handed over to a court in Puebla de Sanabria.'

The statement came after an independent expert claimed the road on which the crash occurred was peppered with 'many faults' and had been the scene of a near–fatal smash just days earlier, an expert has said.

 

Javier Lopez Delgado believed the road surface had been a contributing factor to the men's deaths – and did not believe speed was the only factor in the tragedy.

 

 

Mr Lopez Delgado, president of the Spanish Association of Road Safety Auditors (ASEVI), pointed the finger at 'multiple factors' including the driving speed, saying: 'If they had been going at 55mph they probably wouldn't have been k!lled.

 

'It seems very clear they were going very fast because of the skid marks.'

 

 

Speaking on the day of the crash in the sparsely–populated municipality of Cernadilla just ten miles over the border with Portugal, the force said: 'Everything is pointing to a tyre blowout as the car was overtaking.

 

'As a result of the accident, the car caught fire and both occupants d!ed.'

 

 

In comments to local paper La Opinion de Zamora, expert engineer Mr. Lopez Delgado said even if the blown–out tyre was not in the 'right condition' or at the 'correct pressure', it would not be the only factor in the crash.

 

 

He told La Opinion de Zamora the central reservation barrier the siblings slammed into acted as an 'obstacle' because 'the length and angle of incidence were not correct.'

 

 

Referencing another accident in the same spot eight days earlier in which a 60–year–old woman was severely injured and had to be cut free from the wreckage of her vehicle by firefighters, Mr Lopez Delgado said: 'it could be a coincidence but I'm not a big believer in coincidences.

 

'When two different cars come off the road at the same kilometre point something's up.'

 

 

Town hall sources in Cernadilla, home to just over 100 people, branded the A–52 highway where last Thursday's crash happened as 'very dangerous' after it emerged dad–of–three Diogo, 28, and his 25–year–old brother had died.