A source from the Beja Territorial Command of the GNR informed Lusa news agency that the five occupants of the vehicle included three men, two aged 20 and one aged 55, as well as two women, aged 19 and 51.
“All resided in England, with four being family members, while the 19-year-old woman was Polish. They were traveling by car to Mourão,” in the Évora district, reported the same GNR source.
A 26-year-old man from Almodôvar also died in this accident and was the sole occupant of the other vehicle involved in the head-on collision between two passenger cars that occurred in the early hours today on the IP2, near Castro Verde, in the Beja district.
On its Facebook page, the Mourão municipal council in the Évora district expressed sorrow for the death of four “children of the land” and declared two days of municipal mourning, to be observed on Sunday and Monday.
A municipality source revealed to Lusa that the deceased family consisted of the husband, the 55-year-old man, his 51-year-old wife, and their 20-year-old twin sons, with the 19-year-old Polish girl being the partner of one of the boys.
“The municipality, in coordination with the family and the authorities, namely the local GNR post of Castro Verde, officially learned of the vehicle’s license plate in which they were traveling, confirming the identity of the passengers,” as mentioned in the social media post.
According to the municipality, four of the occupants were “natives of Mourão” and the foreign young woman had “a close family relationship.”
“Living in England, they were traveling from Faro to Mourão for their regular and well-deserved vacations.”
Presenting condolences to the families and friends of the deceased victims, the Mourão council also announced that “all activities and events promoted by the municipality are canceled throughout the weekend.”
The head-on collision with six fatalities involved two passenger vehicles and occurred at kilometer 387.5 of the IP2, in Castro Verde villa area, with the alert given to the authorities at 2:06 AM today, as reported to Lusa by a source from the Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of Baixo Alentejo.
The accident led to the closure of traffic on the IP2 for several hours, with road circulation resuming only this morning at 7:10 AM, according to sources from the sub-regional command and the GNR.
The bodies of the six deceased victims were taken to the forensic medicine department of Beja hospital.
In the morning, a GNR source stated that the bodies of the five victims in the burned vehicle were charred and disclosed that the other deceased victim was a 26-year-old man.
A total of 36 operatives were deployed to the accident site, supported by 16 vehicles, including resources from the fire department, GNR, National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) — with a medical emergency vehicle and an immediate life support ambulance — and Estradas da Planície, the road concessionaire company.
