A 19-year-old who died after being thrown out of his car in a crash near Piteå in far northern Sweden died immediately, according to the coroner after an autopsy last week.

This comes in response to allegations that local police were not thorough enough in their investigation, having left the scene without finding the body of the motorist, who was later found dead in a nearby field.

The crash, which occurred in late July, was investigated for one hour by local police, however after finding no blood traces and after a one hour search, police responded to another emergency in the belief that the driver had left the scene himself.

Relatives of the deceased are furious that police couldn’t find the body, believing he may have still been alive while police were present.

“The police have done a bad job. He could have been seen from the road. If they’d just bothered to go a few metres further they would have seen him – I even saw him myself from the road,” the man’s mother told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

The body was not found until 21 hours after the accident, when concerned friends went back to the crash scene to search further.

The police are now being investigated for suspected negligence.

TT/The Local/og

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