It’s been nearly six months since the tragic car accident that claimed the life of Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva. The former Portugal international and his sibling were killed in the early hours of July 3, a journey they undertook because Jota was unable to fly due to a recent lung operation. Jota would have turned 29 today (Thursday) and had married his wife Rute Cardoso just 11 days prior to the devastating incident.

The football community was left reeling by the sudden death of such a prominent Premier League player, and the subsequent police investigation revealed the harrowing circumstances of his passing. The Lamborghini Huracan they were travelling in veered off the road and burst into flames. Jota, having been advised against flying after his lung surgery, was driving to Santander with plans to travel to England via an overnight ferry from Benavente, eventually docking in Portsmouth.

It is believed that a tyre blowout occurred while overtaking another vehicle on the A-52, about 70 miles west of Valladolid. This caused their car to leave the road around 12.40am, quickly becoming engulfed in flames.

Firefighters, working alongside emergency services and the Civil Guard, managed to put out the fire. However, it was tragically confirmed that both occupants had died shortly after their arrival at the scene.

“The investigation into the crash is being carried out by Civil Guard traffic officers,” read a statement from the Civil Guard in Zamora. “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 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.”

Reports suggested the fire damage to the wreckage was so extensive that it initially hampered efforts to identify the two victims. In a devastating turn of events, it emerged that Jota’s wife, Rute, was forced to identify the two men herself after police proved unable to do so.

Discussing their altered travel arrangements following Jota’s operation, CNN Portugal’s Rui Laura explained: “The surgery he had had was lung surgery, and he had been advised against flying following this.

“He was on his way to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to cross the ferry and reach the UK that way and carry on with the car once he reached Britain. He was on his way to Liverpool with his brother.”

Jota remained in Portugal after his part in the team’s penalty shootout triumph over Spain in the Nations League final on 8 June. A few weeks later, he married his long-term partner Rute, with whom he has three young children.

Liverpool right-back Andy Robertson and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, now at Brentford, both attended Jota’s wedding. However, what should have been a summer of pure joy for Jota and his family took a tragic turn just over a week later.