Madrid, July 8 (IANS) Early findings from the Spanish police investigation into the death of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car crash last week point to the fact that Jota was at the wheel at the time of the accident and driving over the speed limit.

The brothers, aged 28 and 25, both died in the accident, which happened at around 00:30 am local time on the A-53 highway, close to the town of Cernadilla in the north-west of Spain.

The pair was driving from Portugal to Santander on the north coast of Spain to catch a ferry for Jota to start pre-season training with Liverpool, when the Lamborghini they were travelling in left the road and burst into flames, leaving only charred and scattered wreckage.

Jota had been advised not to fly after recently undergoing minor surgery, Xinhua news agency reported. The preliminary statement from the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), which was made public on Tuesday, explained that “all the evidence so far” implies that Jota was driving the sports car.

The Civil Guard also added that the vehicle was “significantly exceeding the (120 km/h) speed limit for the highway.”

“Among other things, the marks left by one of the vehicle’s wheels are being examined,” the statement from the Civil Guard added, while stressing the report had still to be finalised.

The funeral of Jota and Silva was held in their hometown of Gondomar at the weekend and attended by personalities from the world of football, such as many of his teammates from Liverpool and the Portuguese national team, while tributes poured in from all sectors of society.

Jota had married his childhood sweetheart, Rute Cardoso, just 11 days before the accident, and the couple had three small children. Liverpool has promised it will pay the remaining two years of his contract in full to the family.

–IANS

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