The four young men killed in a car crash on the A1 near Deventer around 6am on Monday morning were on their way back from a party in Enschede, the sister of one of the victims told local newspaper De Stentor.

Police are still trying to establish why the car they were in drove into the supports of an overhead matrix board and burst into flames.

‘It is a very tragic accident,’ a police spokesman said. ‘We do not know why the car left the road and drove into the gantry.’ Three of the four victims, all in their early 20s, have now been identified and all were keen amateur football players, De Stentor said.

Flowers have been placed at the site of the accident, where friends and family held a spontaneous gathering on Monday afternoon.