Far-right politician Jorg Haider was speeding at more than twice the posted limit before the car crash that killed him, investigators said Oct. 12 as his grief-stricken party appointed a successor.

Flowers, notes and other tributes piled up at the scene of the crash that killed the former leader of the Freedom Party, whose anti-immigration stance and provocative praise of the Nazi era once led the European Union to slap Austria with diplomatic sanctions.

Police reconstructing the Oct. 11 accident in the southern province of Carinthia, where Haider was governor, said the speedometer in the wreckage of Haider's high-powered Volkswagen Phaeton limousine was stuck at 142 kph. The speed limit at the crash site is just 70 kph, and it drops to 50 kph just 100 meters farther down the road in the direction Haider was heading.

Prosecutor Gottfried Kranz said the high speed appeared to be the main factor in the crash that killed the 58-year-old politician.

Police said the car veered off the road after Haider overtook another vehicle, then struck a concrete pillar and rolled over. Haider, who was alone in the car, suffered multiple injuries and died while being rushed to a hospital.