Baby killed in Iceland car crash ‘wasnt in car seat’ vehicle plunged over bridge

A baby girl who died in a horror cash in Iceland had not been travelling in a car seat, according to reports.

The 11-month-old died when a 4×4 carrying seven passengers plunged off a bridge near Skeidararsandur, Núpsvötn, on Wednesday.

Rajshree Laturia, from London, and sister-in-law Khushboo Laturia also lost their lives in the accident.

The family had been enjoying a dream holiday to the country when tragedy struck.

Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson, chief police officer in southern Iceland, said that the child had not been in a car seat when she died, according to online newspaper Visir.

He added that they have not been able to confirm why the girl had not been safely secured and have not yet discussed it with the survivors.

He urged tourists to use seat belts when travelling on the country’s roads.

He said: “Car seats provide immense protection to children, much more than the car belts do.

“So it is always worth using the car seats and they are made, they are naturally a cage for the child and protect from side impacts and other things.”

Police also said that one of the passengers involved in the accident managed to call emergency services to their location.

Friends and relatives have now flown to the country to be with the crash victims, according to local daily Fréttablaðið.

Rajshree’s husband Shreeraj Laturia, a financial trader and entrepreneur, was hospitalised with serious injuries following the fall.

His brother, Supreme Laturia, and two other children were also hurt.

The group were travelling in the Toyota Land Cruiser when it crashed through a railing of the one-lane bridge at 9.30am.

The vehicle then plummeted around 26 feet onto a river bank.

All of the victims are believed to be British nationals of Indian origin, with the injured children said to be aged around seven and nine.

It was previously reported that the two kids had been left fighting for their lives in hospital, along with Shreeraj and Supreme.

However, a source close to one of the families said this morning that the survivors were in a stable condition.

Rajshree and Shreeraj, who have young children, were named among the ‘Asian Power Couples Hot 100’ list in 2015.

Spanish live-in au pair Monica Fontam, 20, who was working for the couples, said family members, friends and a doctor were flying out to be by the victims’ bedside.

“I am still in a terrible state of shock we all are,” she said.

“I have only been here a few months but the family were so welcoming, they treated me like one of their own.

“They all love here and they are all very close.”

She said the “older daughter” had been “told that her mother, auntie, and cousin died in the crash”

Her seven-year-old little brother is in a stable condition but not been told what happened,” Monica added.

“They were all here last night discussing what to do

“A family friend is organising everything for them and staying here to see them through this.”

The families were on a four-day holiday when the crash occurred on the national Route 1 road near the vast sand plain.

A witness  described how the car ploughed through railings - and how he tried to help “semi-conscious” children.

Adolf Ingi Erlingsson, a local guide who was one of the first on the scene along with two police officers, described the 4×4 as a “total wreck” and “totally destroyed”.

He told BBC News: “It was very strange, somehow the driver must have lost control of the car and it just went through the railing and crashed down onto the bank. It’s kind of sandy. It flipped over and was totally destroyed.

The four wounded victims were airlifted to hospital in Reykjavik.

The tragedy occurred just south of Skaftafell National Park.

Bjorn Malmquist, a local journalist, told  Sky News  yesterday: “We have confirmed from the Embassy of India in Iceland that there were two families in the car – two brothers, and their wives and their children.”

It is believed the four survivors have since been transferred from emergency care to other hospital departments.