Two British women and a child killed when 4x4 crashed through a bridge in Iceland

Police have confirmed the identities of two British women and a child who were killed when the 4×4 they were travelling in ploughed through a bridge and crashed in Iceland.

The Toyota Landcruiser carrying seven Britons crashed from the bridge between the town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Skaftafell, in the Vatnajökull National Park, at around 9.30am on Thursday.

Sarvesh Laturia, the brother of two men travelling in the car, has confirmed the fatalities were Rajshree Laturia – the wife of Shreeraj Laturia, their daughter 10-month old Shreeprabha Laturia, and Khushboo Laturia, who was married to Shreeraj’s brother Supreme.

Mr Laturia, his brother Supreme and two other children, aged seven and nine, are being treated in hospital for serious injuries.

Icelandic police said the women were born in 1982 and 1985.

They are all British citizens of Indian origin and there are unconfirmed reports the families may both have been from London.

The cause of Thursday’s accident is not yet known, but in a statement on Friday police said the Toyota Land Cruiser “seems to have turned on the bridge with the result that it went on top of the railing of the bridge, to the right, following it for a short distance and then turned over off the rail and the bridge.

“There, the car fell down on the ground beneath the bridge.”

Icelandic road experts have revealed the bridge at the centre of a lethal crash which left three Britons dead doesn’t meet modern safety standards.

According to the Morgunblaðið newspaper, the design director of the Iceland Road Administration said the 46-year-old single lane bridge over Núpsvötn doesn’t comply with modern safety standards in terms of the bridge and railing structures.

The director also believed the road may have been icy.

Icelandic police said they hope to speak to Shreeraj Laturia and Supreme Laturia on Friday but were unable to confirm whether or not they would be fit enough to be interviewed.

One of the first people on the scene was tour guide Adolf Erlingsson, who told BBC News he believed the driver had lost control.

Mr Erlingsson said the car “went through the railing and crashed down onto the bank”.

“It’s kind of sandy, there’s no rivers so it wasn’t submerged in water. It just landed there on a sandy bottom and flipped over and was totally destroyed,” he said.

He added that he got out of his van and went to see if he could help.

“The car was a total wreck. When I got there four people were out of the car, one of them deceased. Then there were three people trapped in the car.

“The driver was alive and trapped more or less under the dashboard. We were trying to get the people out of the car and helping them, it was a very difficult situation.”

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are supporting the family of several British nationals who were involved in a road traffic accident in Iceland and are in close contact with the Icelandic authorities.”