Portugal: British family die on holiday in horror car crash - hours after renting Nissan Juke at Faro Airport
Four members of a UK family who died in a head-on rental car crash in Portugal have been named and pictured.
Two 20-year-old twins, their 55-year-old father, and their 51-year-old mother, were killed just hours after they had hired a Nissan Juke at Faro Airport. The family who lived in Thetford, but were not believed to be British nationals, according to the UK Foreign Office, have been named by authorities as Jose Fale, his wife Maria Joao, and their twin sons Domingos and Afonso.
A spokesperson for The Municipal Council of Mourao said the family were residents of England and were traveling from Faro to Mourao for a vacation. The 19-year-old girlfriend of one of the siblings also died in the tragic accident, which also claimed the life of a Portuguese man travelling alone in the other car they collided with.
Pictures from the crash scene showed the mangled wreckage of one of the two vehicles involved in the accident beside the road. The family were travelling north from the Algarve towards Mourao in the district of Evora near the Spanish border.
The tragedy happened around 1.40am on Saturday on the IP2 main road in Castro Verde where signs shows the speed limit is 80km/h. A source close to the ongoing investigation said: “The car was such a wreck officers could only recover half a number-plate and with that began working on trying to establish the identity.
“Today a daughter of the couple killed alongside their twin sons, worried because she had heard about the crash in Portugal and was concerned because she couldn't contact her loved ones, rang the police to speak about her fears it was her family involved. With the information she gave them officers made checks with the hire car firm at Faro Airport and tragically discovered a match.
“That was how they were able to confirm the identities of the five occupants in the car with the four members of the same family inside.” Town hall officials in Mourao have declared two days of mourning starting from today (Sunday 10 August).
Thetford Town Football Club paid tribute to the family saying the twins had been "integral" parts of their U18 team. A spokesperson for the football club posting on Facebook said whished their "sincere condolences to the Serrano family and the local Portuguese community after the recent tragedy while on holiday".
They said: “Afonso and Domingos were both an integral part of our U18's team in recent years, both brothers sadly passed away in Portugal with their parents and friends in a tragic car accident. The loss of this lovely family will leave a massive void in the local community. Partiram, mas numca serao esquecidos."