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Van kills one person and injures three more in hit-and-run outside Bruno Mars gig

Police are still looking for vehicle and driver after incident outside PinkPop festival in the Netherlands

Monday 18 June 2018 12:34 BST
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Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars (Rex Features)

A music lover attending a festival being headlined by Bruno Mars has died in a hit and run incident which injured three others.

A white van ploughed into the group close to the famous PinkPop festival in Landgraaf in the Netherlands before speeding off.

It remains unclear if the incident – which occurred in the early hours of Monday morning – was deliberate or accidental. But the driver later turned himself in.

Prosecutor Daniele Weymar said at a press conference the suspect, a 34-year-old Dutchman from the nearby city of Heerlen, not far from the concert, had called police himself and was taken into custody in Amsterdam.

He is being held on suspicion of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter, the BBC reports.

The van had initially been driven away from the scene prompting a search across the border into Belgium and Germany. Police said it was later abandoned on the street - close to the concert grounds - where the collision had happened.

The festival’s official Twitter account confirmed the incident and said organisers were “deeply shocked” and would support the victims and family.

The head of Pinkpop Jan Smeets said it was the first death in the festival's 49-year history. "It's really terrible, that such a great party should come to such an abrupt end," he said.

The three-day long event is attended by tens of thousands of fans every summer. This year's event had come to an end just hours before with a headline performance from American singer Bruno Mars.

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