Jörg Haider was driving double the speed limit and had attended two parties before his car skidded out of control, killing the far-Right leader yesterday.

Mr Haider’s four-wheeled drive VW Phaeton V6 was completely shattered by the crash, near the southern city of Klagenfurt.

Two of the car’s doors were ripped out by the impact and he suffered severe head, neck and chest injuries, as well as a broken spine, and his left arm was almost completely severed.

His speedometer stopped at 142 kph at the time of the crash. Police said the car veered off the road after Mr Haider overtook another vehicle, then struck a concrete pillar and rolled over.

Mr Haider, the Governor of Carinthia, apparently “hated” the road on which he died after a similar accident in 1993, in which he emerged unscathed. The speed limit at the crash site is just 70 kph (43 mph), and it drops to 50 kph (31 mph) just 100 meters farther down the road in the direction that Mr Haider was heading.

Gottfried Kranz, the local prosecutor, said the high speed appeared to be the main factor in the crash. “Any speculation about other causes of the accident is weak,” he said, adding that the car was technically sound and police had no reason to suspect foul play.

Some of Mr Haider’s former allies have called for the unification of Austria’s two far-Right parties following his death.

Mr Haider was the leader of the Freedom Party until he was ousted by his former protégé Heinz-Christian Strache, who won more than 17 per cent of the vote in recent elections with his new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria. The new party of Mr Haider captured over 11 per cent of the vote.

Professor Peter Filzmaier, one of Austria's most prominent political commentators, said: "It is possible that Mr Haider's early departure could enable a much closer collaboration between the two parties. After all, their differences were never of a political but rather of personal nature, due to the animosity between their leaders. Ideologically, both parties share the same ground.

"And there certainly is no successor to Joerg Haider, as he was the omnipresent leader whose personal influence was decisive for the success of the success of his party."

Alliance leaders met in Vienna on Sunday but the party might choose not to rush into a quick decision on reunification. It might leave a decision on its future until after regional elections in Carinthia next year.

According to witnesses, Mr Haider attended two parties before the crash – one official event of the local government and one magazine launch – and was visibly tired when he gave his driver a night off and decided to drive his official car himself.

Friedrich Schager, the driver, said: “Joerg would often drive home on his own. He has given me so many days off. In retrospect, I desperately regret having accepted his offer.”

It is believed that Mr Haider was rushing to get home to his property in Baerenthal near Klagenfurt, where his whole family had gathered to celebrate the 90th birthday of his mother. The celebration was supposed to take place on Saturday, only hours after his death.

In Klagenfurt, the capital of the province of Carinthia were Mr Haider was a governor, hundreds of people are lighting candles and laying flowers at the scene of the accident and in front of Mr Haider’s former office.

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