British family of four killed in Portugal horror crash named

A British family of four killed in a horror car crash minutes after they had picked up a rental car from a Portuguese airport have been named.

Jose Fale and his wife Maria Joao - and their twin sons as Domingos and Afonso - were travelling in a Nissan Juke they had just rented at Faro Airport when they were involved in a horror collision.

The 19-year-old girlfriend of one of the siblings also died in the horror accident, which claimed the life of a Portuguese man travelling alone in the other car they collided with head-on.

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 this morning on the IP2 main road in Castro Verde around halfway to their final destination.

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."

The hire car they were travelling in caught fire after the crash and local reports said they had all burned to death, although it will be up to forensic experts to decide whether some or all of the occupants were already dead when flames took hold of the vehicle.

The Portuguese man travelling in the other car, 26-year-old Ruben Goncalves, has also been pictured locally.

Local reports said Ruben worked at a zinc-copper mine southeast of Castro Verde called the Neves-Corvo mine. He had a son aged around four.

Pictures from the crash scene showed the wrangled wreckage of one of the two vehicles involved in the accident on the wrong side of a crash in a field where a blaze took hold after the collision and had to be put out by firefighters.

The crash happened on a bend on the IP2 where signs shows the speed limit is 80kmh.

Shocked locals took to social media today to express their shock and upset at what had happened.

Tania Marques Da Cruz said: "My most sincere condolences to all those killed. I hope their souls rest in peace.

"It's so sad to hear of people leaving their homeland and friends in search of a better life and then have their lives end like this. How unfair life is."

Cesar Caleiro wrote on Facebook: "My sincere condolences to the loved ones of those killed.

"Mourao must rally round to comfort the families of the victims."

A local paper in Mourao, confirming the names of the family, said: "Jose Fale and his wife Maria Joao and their sons died along with their daughter-in-law.

"Mourao is in mourning."