Police believe a man who died when his car crashed into a lamp-post may have been shot just before the collision.

Officers were called to reports of an accident on the Parallelweg in Hengelo, Overijssel, on Tuesday evening, but started a criminal inquiry after finding blood in the car and a hole in the windscreen.

‘The trail of evidence gave us a different picture,’ police spokeswoman Chantal Westerhoff told local newspaper Tubantia. ‘We are fairly sure that a serious crime has taken place here.’

Police cordoned off a wider area around the crime scene as they tried to identify the location where the driver was shot. Sniffer dogs and a drone team are also being used to gather evidence and a forensic team has been set up in a mobile cabin at the scene.

Police are also still trying to identify the victim. ‘We want to know if the person who was found in the car is the owner of the car,’ Westerhoff said. ‘And whether there are family member who we need to inform.’