Online Reporter
A truck driver who claims to have seen the Lamborghini of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva on fire has promised the brothers’ family that the car was not speeding when it crashed.
A preliminary report said on Tuesday that the car was probably speeding at the time of the crash, which saw the car burst into flames and claim the lives of the two footballers.
Forensics have been analysing the forensics team the marks left by the car’s wheels, with it suggested that a tyre burst. They are trying to determine whether excessive speed caused the crash, police said in a statement.
The video comes just hours after the revelation that a female driver nearly died on the same dangerous highway that the brothers were driving on just hours before the fatal accident.
A 60-year-old woman was seriously injured at kilometre 65, on the same road Jota died, last Wednesday at around 11.30am (local time). Her car had come off the road, while driving towards Benavente, leaving the woman trapped. She was later freed by firefighters and taken to hospital, Spanish outlet AS reports.
Jose Azevedo has now recorded a video seemingly filmed from a truck at the angle of a dashboard, promising the family that the car was not travelling above the speed limit when the incident took place.
‘‘I filmed it, stopped, tried to help, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do,’’ he said in Portuguese. I have a clear conscience.
‘‘I know what I went through that night because I didn’t know who was inside. My condolences to the family.
‘‘(The family) have my word that they were not speeding. I could see the make of the car, the colour of the car. I drive this road every day, Monday through Saturday, I know what road it is, and it’s worthless.
‘‘It’s a dark road, and I could see the make and colour of the car, everything perfectly. Later on, unfortunately, that’s how it ended.’’
Jota, 28, was travelling in the supercar alongside his younger brother Silva, 26, a around 12.35am (local time).
The tyre of the 200mph Lamborghini Huracan is said to have blown out while overtaking on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora in northwestern Spain, close to the border with Portugal.
The acid green sportscar careered off the road, and rolled before bursting into flames setting alight surrounding greenery. Emergency services rushed to the scene but they unfortunately could not save the brothers.
The brothers were on a road trip to Santander, northern Spain, to catch a ferry to the UK after the Liverpool player and Portuguese international was advised not to travel by plane following lung surgery. – Daily Mail
Mathew Masinge