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Teenagers all drowned in River Wear Audi plunge, inquest hears

Jackson Duke, Luke Etheridge and Zara Shaw, the three Sunderland College students who drowned after a black Audi A3 plunged into the River Wear, with a fourth occupant escaping unaided.
Jackson Duke, Luke Etheridge and Zara Shaw, the three Sunderland College students who drowned after a black Audi A3 plunged into the River Wear, with a fourth occupant escaping unaided.
Emergency services on the River Wear near Wearmouth Bridge, Sunderland, where a black Audi A3 carrying three Sunderland College students plunged into the water on 29 September, killing all three.
Emergency services on the River Wear near Wearmouth Bridge, Sunderland, where a black Audi A3 carrying three Sunderland College students plunged into the water on 29 September, killing all three.

All three teenagers who died when a black Audi A3 plunged into the River Wear in Sunderland city centre on September 29 lost their lives by drowning, a coroner confirmed at opening inquest hearings on Monday. Jackson Duke, 17, died alongside Luke Etheridge and Zara Shaw, both 16 — students at Sunderland College who were trapped inside the submerged vehicle. A fourth occupant escaped and reached safety; he has since been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released on bail pending further inquiries.

Divers recovered all three bodies from inside the Audi after it broke through a barrier at Panns Bank and sank.

Sunderland senior coroner David Place called it 'a tragic loss for the whole of the city' as families attended the brief hearings at City Hall.

At Sunderland's Premier League match against Brighton, players wore black armbands and fans gave a minute's applause for the three teenagers.

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