Three youth team players for Queens Park Rangers FC have been arrested on suspicion of murder, after the death of a promising young Vietnamese architect under the wheels of a Tube train in London.

Leads under investigation by police suggest that the footballers, two aged 16 and one 17, were “horsing around” on a platform at Earls Court Station when Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, fell into the path of a Piccadilly Line train.

The fatal fall also left footballer Harry Smart, 17, in a critical condition with head and leg injuries. It is believed that Mr Smart was play-fighting on a team-mate’s shoulders when he fell during the rush hour on November 23, taking Mr Vu with him.

The footballers are all friends and former team-mates of the trainee footballer Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death this year outside the London Academy School in Edgware, northwest London.

A coroner’s inquest into Mr Vu’s death opened yesterday at Westminster Coroner’s Court, where it emerged he was completing a master’s degree at Kingston University.

In a statement his family said: “Tu was an enthusiastic and brilliant student who was much loved by his friends both in Hanoi and here in England. He came to England to receive the best possible education to secure a future for himself and his family at home in Vietnam.”

An anonymous Tube worker described the incident on a website, saying: “I spoke to the driver of the train and he said it just looked like a bunch of youths mucking around.

“One barged another as the train came in, and as he lost his balance he grabbed another to steady himself and they both fell under.”

A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: “Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail, but no charges have been brought. It is being treated as a suspicious incident. We are examining evidence and appealing for witnesses.”

A spokesman for QPR said: “The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with the families of those involved.”

Police have spoken to a number of witnesses who were on the platform at the time of the incident.

Through examination of CCTV footage there are a further seven potentially significant witnesses that officers would like to talk to.

Carol Mancke, Tu Quang Hoang Vu’s course director at Kingston University, said: “Tu was a student who showed great promise and potential. We had no hesitation in offering him a place and were extremely impressed by the glowing credentials and exceptional examples of project work he sent us with his application.

“He was just beginning a design project with two fellow students and was extremely popular with his fellow coursemates and lecturers.”

The university will honour his memory by planting a tree at its campus.

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