Diogo Jota's identity was confirmed with a licence plate after the Liverpool star died in a fire following his tragic car accident. The Reds forward, 28, was killed along with his 26-year-old brother and fellow footballer Andre Silva on Thursday in Zamora, Spain.

Police said that their vehicle - a Lamborghini - veered off the road following a tyre blowout while they were overtaking another car at around 00:30 local time. The vehicle then went up in flames, with pictures revealing the harrowing aftermath. Fire services were called to the scene to extinguish the blaze, which spread to nearby vegetation. Despite the car being incinerated, their identities were able to be confirmed due to documents found at the scene and in the car, according to Jornal de Noticias.

It is understood that a licence plate was the key indicator that the two professional footballers had perished in the fire.

Spanish outlet La Opinion El Correo de Zamora reported that forensic experts conducting the autopsy on the bodies had to resort to DNA tests to confirm their identities.

Ángel Blanco, the Spanish government's sub-delegate in Zamora, explained that during the autopsy, attempts would be made to obtain fingerprints and DNA tests would be sent to Madrid for analysis and legal confirmation of the victims' identities. The autopsy was conducted at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Zamora.

La Opinion also reported that the footballer's family arrived at the Institute of Legal Medicine around noon local time on Thursday. Diogo's wife Rute Cardoso, having married him just 11 days ago, is understood to have since identified the pair.

Cardoso, who has three children with Jota, informed police that the two brothers' intention was to spend the night in Benavente, northwest Spain, and continue their journey on Thursday to reach Santander before catching a ferry to Portsmouth, according to reports in Portugal.

Psychological support was requested for Jota's wife and the personal belongings that were saved from the fire were handed to her. It was one of the brothers' relatives who alerted them that they had not arrived in Benavente, and later, they verified in the documentation that they were Portuguese subjects.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Zamora said: "The investigation into the crash is being carried out by Civil Guard traffic officers. We believe the car suffered a blowout from the marks on the road. The full police report once it is completed will be submitted to a duty court in Zamora which has launched an ongoing judicial investigation into this crash.

"That report is going to take time to complete, probably about four or five days but possibly longer. At this moment in time it is impossible to say at exactly what speed the car was going but that is something the Civil Guard investigators will be able to detail at least approximately in their final report from things like the skid marks.

"What I can confirm is that no other vehicle was involved and no-one else was hurt."