A couple among three Brits killed in the Lisbon funicular crash were pictured smiling on a tram before they died. Kayleigh Gillian Smith, 36, and her partner William Nelson, 44, were two of the 16 people who lost their lives when the popular tourist attraction derailed in the centre of the city on Wednesday night.
The victims were from around the world, including five Portuguese nationals, three British citizens, two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French, one Swiss and one Ukrainian. A further 21 people were injured, including five seriously.
In a now poignant post on social media, Ms Smith wrote on the day of the crash that the couple had spent their first day in the Portuguese capital enjoying “churches and castles, tiles and trams”.
Ms Smith also posted pictures showing views of the city, she and Mr Nelson as well as a view of the sun setting over Lisbon.
A spokesman for Cheshire Police confirmed that two of the people who died following the funicular incident are believed to be residents from the North West.
The force said formal identification has yet to take place and the victims’ families were being supported by specialist officers.
The derailment is one of Lisbon’s worst tragedies in recent memory. Multiple agencies are investigating what Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described as “one of the biggest tragedies” in the country’s “recent past”.
The government’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations said it would issue a preliminary technical report Friday, but it postponed that to Saturday citing a delay in official procedures.
Chief police investigator Nelson Oliveira said a preliminary police report with a wider scope is expected within 45 days.
Witnesses told local media the funicular appeared out of control as it careened down a hill at around 6pm on Wednesday during the evening rush hour. One witness said that the vehicle toppled onto a man on a pavement.
The sides and top of the yellow-and-white funicular, known as Elevador da Gloria, were crumpled and it appeared to have crashed into a building at a bend in the road.
Hundreds of people attended a Mass on Thursday at Lisbon’s Church of Saint Dominic. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas were among those who attended.
The funicular was harnessed by steel wires, with the descending car’s weight used to pull up the ascending one. It can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing.
The service, up and down a hill on a curved, traffic-free road, was inaugurated in 1885. The streetcar that crashed had been in use since 1914. It’s classified as a national monument.
The UK Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
