Malanda not wearing seatbelt at time of crash

Flowers, and candles are placed at the Volkswagen Arena stadium in Wolfsburg, Germany to remember Wolfsburg's soccer player Junior Malanda. Peter Steffen/AP

FRANKFURT — Police say Wolfsburg midfielder Junior Malanda was not wearing a seat belt when he was thrown from a speeding car and killed as it crashed in heavy rain.

Malanda was a back-seat passenger when the driver of the SUV lost control and the vehicle skidded off a slippery highway on Saturday and overturned several times. Malanda, a 20-year-old Belgium youth international, was pronounced dead on the spot.

Bielefeld police said Monday the vehicle was travelling "at a speed unsuitable for the weather conditions" and that they have opened a manslaughter probe.

Both other people in the car were injured, but have been released from the hospital, according to police.

Anderlecht youth team defender Anthony D’Alberto was one of the other two people in the car.

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