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Austria's leading far-right politician, Jeorg Haider, had been at a late-night party and was driving at more than double the speed limit when his limousine left the road and somersaulted, killing him almost instantly.
Haider, 58, whose fatal car accident on Saturday has left Austria in a state of shock, was travelling near Klagenfurt in the southern province of Carinthia at 142km/h on a stretch of road with a speed limit of 70km/h.
State prosecutors investigating the crash said his car, a three-month-old Volkswagen Phaeton V6, careered off the road after overtaking another vehicle and flipped several times, causing the populist leader severe injuries to his head and chest even though he was wearing a seatbelt.
An ambulance took Haider to Klagenfurt hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Ruling out foul play as a cause of death, Gottfried Kranz, the chief prosecutor, said: "Further speculation about other causes for the accident are invalid."
Haider, who had been on his way to his mother's 90th birthday party, had been at a party at a night club less than a hour before the crash. State prosecutors declined to say whether they had found alcohol or traces of drugs in his blood.
Haider's death came weeks after the beginnings of his political rebirth. In last month's Austrian general election, the far right secured almost 30 per cent of the vote.
Haider's Alliance for Austria's Future more than doubled its share of the vote, prompting speculation that he would return to the national political scene.
- INDEPENDENT
