UK family-of-four including twins, 20, killed in head-on car crash in Portugal hours after renting car from airport
A UK family-of-four killed in a head-on crash in Portugal have been named and pictured.
Twins Domingos and Afonso, 20, their father Domingos Serrano, 55, and mum Maria Joao, 51, died just hours after picking up a Nissan Juke rental car at Faro Airport.
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A sweet image shows the family smiling together before tragedy struck on the IP2 main road near Castro Verde at around 1.40am on Saturday.
The 19-year-old girlfriend of one of the twins, believed to be of Polish origin but living in the UK, also died.
The other driver – 36-year-old Ruben Goncalves from Almodovar – was killed instantly.
Local reports said he worked at the Neves-Corvo zinc-copper mine and had a four-year-old son.
The family were travelling north from the Algarve towards Mourao, in the district of Evora near the Spanish border, for a holiday.
Police sources said the twins’ parents were originally from Mourao but had been living in England for years, with both boys born in the UK.
It is not known how many years ago their parents left their homeland to move to the UK.
Domingos, believed to live in Thetford, Norfolk, had celebrated his 55th birthday on Thursday just two days before flying to Portugal.
A shocking picture from the scene seen by The Sun shows the mangled wreckage of one of the two cars involved, beside the road where the speed limit is 49mph.
A source close to the investigation said the vehicle was so badly damaged that “officers could only recover half a number-plate” and began using that to work out who was inside.
Later, a daughter of the couple – unable to reach her family and fearing they were involved after hearing about the crash – contacted police, the insider added.
They continued: “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.”
The GNR police force is probing the circumstances of the fatal smash.
Mourao town hall has declared two days of mourning from Sunday.
A spokesman said: “There were four occupants in the car, all from Mourao, and a young woman with ties to the family.
“Residents of England, they were traveling from Faro to Mourao for their usual and well-deserved vacation.
“It is with great sadness that the Municipality announces this information, offering its condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
“We inform you that all activities and events promoted by the Municipality are canceled for the entire weekend.”
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