Viola Beach enter Top 40 chart after fatal car crash

Viola Beach, the British indie band who were killed in a car crash in Sweden on Saturday, have entered the Official Top 40 singles chart following a fan-led campaign to get the group to number one.

The Warrington-based four-piece, which consisted of Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin, have placed at number 39 with their single Swings & Waterslides, and are expected to rise before Friday's full chart is announced. The song, released last summer, has entered the iTunes top three.

The members of Viola Beach as well as their manager Craig Tarrand were killed when the car they were travelling in fell from a bridge into a canal near Stockholm in the early hours of Saturday morning. Communion, the band's record label, confirmed that the proceeds from the sale of the single will go to the families of the men, who were aged between 19 and 32.

The band were playing at Sweden’s Where’s the Music? festival on Friday and had dozens of live shows planned, including a homecoming gig at Warrington’s the Pyramid on March 12th.

Warrington town hall is this week flying its flag at half-mast in memory of the men, and a book of condolence has been opened there and at Warrington borough council’s customer contact centre in Horsemarket Street for people to pay tribute. Mourners have also left flowers at the town hall’s Golden Gates.

"We are deeply saddened and shocked at what happened in Sweden at the weekend," said Warrington mayor Geoff Settle.

“Warrington has lost a talented young band on the verge of something special and a group of young people with their whole lives ahead of them.

“Many people in Warrington are still coming to terms with the news and I would ask that grieving families and friends be given time and space so that they can take on board the enormity of what has happened. Our thoughts are with families and friends in Warrington and beyond.”

Viola Beach are understood to have been on their way to Arlanda airport to return to the UK when the crash occurred. They were due to play in Guildford later that day.

Swedish police were called to the scene at about 2.30am and said their hire car had gone through a barrier of a bridge which had opened to let a boat pass underneath. The barrier, 50m before the opening, had flashing lights and a warning sign. According to witness reports, the brake lights on the car were not operated, suggesting the driver did not realise that the bridge had opened.

Officers were on Monday trying to ascertain whether the crash was the fault of the driver – though it is not known who was behind the wheel.

Postmortem examinations are due to be carried out, and Carina Skagerlind, a spokesperson for Stockholm police, said officers were looking at all possible causes. "We have a term in Sweden that if a person who is driving is to blame for the deaths, we call that causing death of others," she said. "And that could be the case here."

Ms Skagerlind confirmed the autopsies would help determine whether the driver had been intoxicated at the time of the accident, while the car is being examined for possible technical faults. “There are hundreds of possibilities. We are looking at the car, we are looking at the circumstances, we are talking to witnesses. We don’t have any answers yet and we have to look at everything.”

The icy conditions and the operation of the barrier and its warning systems are also been examined as possible causes. Ms Skagerlind said: “We are looking at the barrier. We have to put new barriers on the bridge and had to take the old ones away.”

Witnesses said barriers were down and warning lights were flashing when the accident happened. Other drivers were waiting for two sets of safety barriers over the canal crossing to be lifted when the band drove past at full speed.

Daniel Lindblad, of the Swedish maritime administration, which always checks with the road transport administration before the bridge is opened to allow ships through, said: "To get into the water, a car must get past a red light and two barriers. The red light and the first barrier is just over 100 metres from the lifting part of the bridge. The second barrier is much closer to the edge."

– Guardian service