British indie band Viola Beach die in Swedish car crash

“We can confirm that our son Craig, along with four members of the band Viola Beach, were involved in a fatal accident in the early hours of Saturday morning,” said a statement issued by the family of manager Craig Tarry.

“Craig was a warm, loving person who had worked tirelessly to achieve success and follow his dreams within the music industry,” it added.

The family of guitarist River Reeves said they were “heartbroken” by the news.

“Viola Beach were on such an exciting journey and River could not have been happier. He would have loved to have stuck around for the party,” said a family statement.

“All River wanted to do was perform and entertain and to think that he will never make us laugh again with his ridiculous impressions and cheeky banter is beyond comprehension. We are so proud of him.”

Premier League giants Manchester City paid tribute to season-ticket holder Tarry by holding a minute’s applause five minutes into their match with Tottenham on Sunday

Swedish police earlier said that five people, all British, had died in the accident. Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the deaths of five men aged between 20 and 35.

They died when their car hit a barrier and plunged off a canal bridge at Sodertalje, a southern district of the capital Stockholm.

Their vehicle reportedly approached at speed the bridge which was not fully shut after allowing a vessel to pass underneath in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“First indications are that the barriers and signal lights were functioning correctly,” police spokesman Towe Hagg told AFP.

– ‘You guys were gonna be big’ –

Other vehicles were waiting for the bridge to close fully but “one car arrived at a crazy speed … at least 70-80 kph (45-50 mph). That’s very quick when everybody else was stopped,” Jonny Alexandersson, a lorry driver who witnessed the incident, told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

News of the tragedy spread quickly on social media and fellow band The Enemy tweeted: “RIP Viola Beach and their manager. Such incredibly tragic and sad news. Thought with the friends and families of all involved x”.

A contributor to Viola Beach’s Facebook page wrote: “So awful. Taken before anybody had the chance to see what they might have become.”

Another wrote: “Such sad news, you guys were gonna be big.”

Blossoms, a band who Viola Beach were meant to be supporting upon their return to Britain, also tweeted their sadness.

“Absolutely devastated for the loss of Viola Beach and (manager) Craig Tarry. Our thoughts are with their friends and families.”

Travis lead singer Fran Healy tweeted: “So sad. @Viola_Beach :(”

Ross Jarman from The Cribs also took to Twitter to say: “Heart goes out to the Viola Beach guys and their families.”

The band, who last year had released a debut single, had been in Sweden for a Friday night “Where’s the music” festival in the central city of Norrkoping and were headed back to Britain for the Blossoms gig the following day in Guildford, southern England.

“It was the first time they had played outside of Britain. They were full of hope,” festival organiser Folkert Koopmans told Aftonbladet.

“Sadly it seems the four and their manager died in the accident. It’s terrible, “Koopmans said.