Diogo Jota, 28, and his younger brother Andre Silva, 26, tragically lost their lives in a car crash last Thursday in northern Spain. Spanish authorities initially attributed the accident to speeding, suggesting that the Liverpool star may have been driving well above the legal limit at the time of the crash.
Now, two eyewitnesses have come forward to challenge those claims.
Spanish police from Zamora, near the border with Portugal, stated earlier this week that early evidence indicated Jota was likely driving his £180,000 Lamborghini Huracán at high speed—possibly beyond the 120 km/h (74 mph) limit—when the car suffered a tyre blowout during an overtaking maneuver.
But on Wednesday, Jose Azevedo, a Portuguese lorry driver who says he witnessed the crash, contradicted that narrative. Claiming to be the trucker who captured viral footage of the Lamborghini in flames, Azevedo said in a self-recorded video that the car passed him “super calmly” and “without speeding.” He also stated he attempted to help using a fire extinguisher, but the impact had already been too severe to save either of the brothers.
Another truck driver, Jose Aleixo Duarte, also spoke out. In an interview with Portuguese outlet Correio da Manhã, he said Jota’s car overtook him roughly five minutes before the crash and was traveling at a moderate speed. Duarte criticized the road conditions at the crash site, describing the area as being in “bad shape.”
Mr. Azevedo publicly identified himself as the person who filmed the viral video, addressing critics who accused him of failing to help. In a four-minute clip filmed from his cab, he pointed to evidence linking him to the incident—including his name displayed on his lorry’s tachograph and a cracked windscreen visible in both his footage and the viral video.
“I stopped, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and tried to help,” he said. “But the impact was so severe—there was nothing I could do.”
Azevedo said he didn’t know who was in the car until the next morning, after sharing the video with his wife. He reiterated that the car had not been speeding and described the road as dangerous, saying, “My conscience is clear.”
Despite hesitating to speak out, Azevedo said he was compelled to defend himself against online accusations that he had filmed the wreck “for likes” and had done nothing to help.
His statement came just as El Mundo reported that police were still working to identify eyewitnesses, including the one behind the viral footage. On Tuesday, the Civil Guard confirmed in a rare official statement that their expert report was still underway.
“All indications currently point to the driver being Diogo Jota, and to a likely excess of speed as the cause,” the Civil Guard said. The final report will be submitted to a court in Puebla de Sanabria.
They added that the 12:30 a.m. crash was believed to have involved a tyre blowout during overtaking, leading to the car catching fire and both men dying at the scene.
Javier Lopez Delgado, a Spanish road safety expert and president of the Spanish Association of Road Safety Auditors (ASEVI), attributed the crash to multiple factors, including excessive speed. He said:
“If they had been traveling at 55 mph, they probably would have survived. The skid marks suggest a much higher speed.”
He also criticized the road surface, calling it faulty, and said the central reservation barrier contributed to the crash:
“Its design—length and angle of incidence—wasn’t suitable. It acted more like an obstacle than a safety measure.”
Delgado also pointed out that just eight days earlier, a 60-year-old woman had crashed at the same spot and had to be freed by firefighters.
“That’s not a coincidence,” he said. “Two serious crashes at the same kilometre marker suggest something is wrong.”
Jota and his brother had been on their way to Santander to catch a ferry to the UK, planning to travel on to Liverpool by car. He had been advised against flying after undergoing lung surgery. Just two weeks before the crash, he had married his childhood sweetheart, Rute Cardoso, the mother of their three children.
The funeral service for the brothers took place on Saturday in Gondomar, their hometown near Porto. It was attended by several Liverpool teammates and Portugal national team players, who also participated in a wake the day before.
