Three teenage athletes have been killed after an Audi A2 carrying nine people plunged into a canal while travelling back from an 18th birthday party
Three teenage athletes were tragically killed when a car carrying nine people crashed into a canal after an 18th birthday party.
Footballers Lorenzo Benin and Riccardo Provasi, both 17, and volleyball player Camilla Copparoni, who it's reported had just turned 18, were returning home after spending the night celebrating a friend’s birthday at a club in Lainate, Italy .
Nine people aged between 17 and 19 had squeezed into the five-seat Audi at the time of the crash , which happened at around 5.30am on Sunday, June 21. Police believe the 19-year-old driver - who had been drinking - lost control near a bend on a dark stretch of road with uneven tarmac.
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The Audi A2 reportedly hit a tree, overturned, and ended up in the bed of an artificial canal in Senago. Camilla was pulled from the vehicle alive but died shortly before reaching hospital.
Fire service divers recovered the bodies of the two 17-year-olds, who were trapped inside the car. The other six occupants survived with fractures and bruises, as reported by NeedToKnow .
The driver, Gabriele Popovici of nearby Cormano, tested positive for alcohol, with a blood alcohol level of 1.61 g/l. The legal limit for new drivers in Italy is zero.
Police also believe excessive speed may have been a factor. The driver was taken to a hospital in Milan under police guard, in a state of shock.
The other passengers, from nearby Paderno Dugnano and Cusano Milanino, were also admitted to the same hospital. Most are long-time friends, linked through the amateur football club Cusano Calcio.
The three victims all lived in Paderno Dugnano and Camilla played volleyball for Jolly Palazzolo Milanese. A cousin said: “She was beautiful, reserved. Like a doll, the way she was brought up together with her brother.
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“She had just come back from a week away on holiday with school friends – no one could have imagined a tragedy like this.”
Lorenzo and Riccardo, along with driver Gabriele, played football for the amateur club Cob 91 in Cormano. The two boys who died also studied Finance and Marketing together.
Gabriele has since been arrested on suspicion of aggravated multiple vehicular manslaughter and will also be questioned.