Four teenage footballers died when their team bus plunged off a motorway bridge on their way home from a cup-winning match, say police in Brazil.

The coach plummeted more than 30 feet to the ground after smashing through a crash barrier in Alem Paraiba on 30th January.

Police say it landed on its roof after the driver lost control of its steering.

The bus had been heading to Duque de Caxias, where the football team is based.

Fire Department officials say 31 people – the driver, players and coaching staff from Esporte Clube Vila Maria Helena de Ubaporanga – were on board.

The dead have been named as Kaylon da Silva Paixao, 13, Thyago Ramos de Oliveira, 15, Andrey Viana da Costa, 15, and 18-year-old Diogo Coutinho Vilar.

Twenty-nine were injured, 24 of whom were taken to hospital in Alem Paraiba and the remainder to hospital in Leopoldina.

The first hospital said that five had been kept in for ongoing treatment. Three remain in the intensive care.

Of the five taken to the second hospital, only one has been discharged.

The team was returning home after winning the Ubaporanga National Cup.

Paramedic Guilherme Ferreira Rodrigues told local media: “They were returning from a tournament where they were champions and unfortunately this happened.

“They were happy and most of them still had their medals around their necks.”

At the time of reporting, bodies of three of the four fatalities had been released to their families for burial.

Civil Police are investigating the case and hope to interview the bus driver as soon as possible.