Her's, British indie duo, killed in wrong-way collision in Arizona
The two members of the British indie duo Her's have been killed in a wrong-way collision in Arizona, their record label said. Stephen Fitzpatrick, 24, and Audun Laading, 25, died alongside their tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson, 37, in a collision early Wednesday, Heist or Hit said in a statement.
Authorities said a Nissan pickup truck and a Ford van collided head-on on Interstate 10 near Centennial, Arizona, about 75 miles west of Phoenix, killing the truck's wrong-way driver and three people in the van.
The truck's driver was identified as Francisco Edward Rebollar, 63, of California, according to CBS affiliate KPHO-TV.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said an alcoholic beverage container was located among the debris, but it was unclear if an intoxicant was a factor in the crash.
The duo, on a 19-show tour of North America, had performed at The Rebel Lounge Tuesday in Phoenix and were driving to a show in Santa Ana, California, when the crash happened.
"We are all heartbroken," the record company said in a statement. "Their energy, vibrancy and talent came to define our label."
"It's almost home time for the lads, US tour has gone swimmingly so far," the band wrote Monday in a Facebook post. "Got a hot sunset date with the Grand Canyon tonight."
Described as "one of the UK's most loved up and coming bands," the Liverpool-based duo released its debut album, "Invitation to Her's," last year.
Fitzpatrick, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and Laading, from Kristiansand, Norway, met for the first time as students at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). They both graduated in 2016.
"The pair bonded over a love of peculiar, sardonic humour and wide eyed observations. Dream-pop outfit Her's is the natural extension to the solitary decoding of the cultures they grew up in," according to their biography on the Heist or Hit website.
Engelbrektson, who was from Minnesota and married with two children, will be honored at a fundraiser and memorial in Minneapolis on April 2, CBS Minnesota reported.
"We were honored to be able to host them on their US tour," The Rebel Lounge said Thursday in a Facebook post. "We never thought it would be their last show, they deserved so many more."
