Vienna  - Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider died on the way to the hospital Saturday morning after the car he was driving had left the road and flipped over repeatedly, officials said at a press conference in Klagenfurt.

The accident occured at 1:15 am (23:15 GMT) on the outskirts of Klagenfurt in Carinthia, the province where Haider was governor, said Ernst Friesenegger, the town's police chief.

Shortly after overtaking another vehicle, "he came off the road for unknown reasons," Friesenegger said.

Haider was driving alone when his car subsequently crashed into a road sign, an embankment, a concrete foundation of a fence on the roadside, and a water hydrant. Officials said he was wearing his seat belt when the accident happened.

The vehicle turned over several times and came to a halt with the wheels on the road after 36 metres, the officer said.

"Doctor Joerg Haider sustained extremely serious injuries," he added.

Besides injuries to the head and chest, Haider's neck was likely broken and his left arm was nearly severed, said Thomas Koperna, the medical head of the Klagenfurt hosptial where Haider was brought, as "there was still a whiff of a chance for survival."

"The doctors in the province hospital could only determine the governor's death," Koperna said.

Haider was driving from the launching party for a new publication in the town of Velden to his home in Feistritz, around 30 kilometres from Klagenfurt, said Stefan Petzner, Haider's deputy as leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria. (dpa)