British family of 4 killed in horrific 'fireball' car crash in Portugal pictured

This is the first picture of the British family killed in a tragic head-on collision just minutes after leaving Portugal's Faro airport in a rental car. The parents have been identified as Jose Fale and his wife Maria João, and their twin sons as Domingos and Afonso. A woman, 19, believed to be the girlfriend of one of the twins, was also killed in the crash.

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, who was 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 checked 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 hired car caught fire after the crash, and local reports said all had burned to death, though forensic experts will decide if some or all of the occupants were already dead when flames took hold.

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

Reports said he worked at the Neves-Corvo mine, a zinc-copper mine southeast of Castro Verde, and had a son around four years old.

Crash scene pictures showed the wreckage of one vehicle on the wrong side of a crash barrier in a field, where firefighters had to put out a blaze.

The crash happened on a bend on the IP2 with an 80kmh speed limit.

Shocked locals expressed sadness online. One said: “My most sincere condolences to all those killed. I hope their souls rest in peace.”

Another wrote: “Mourao must rally round to comfort the families of the victims.”