Brits killed in Lisbon tragedy are pictured smiling together on a tram shortly before they died alongside elderly UK tourist – as British woman’s haunting final message is revealed

Two British victims of the Lisbon funicular tragedy were pictured smiling together on a tram shortly before they died.

Kayleigh Gillian Smith, 36, and her partner William Nelson, 44, were among the 16 people who tragically lost their lives in Wednesday evening’s accident.

Ms Smith had written on social media on the day of the crash that they spent their first day in Lisbon enjoying ‘churches and castles, tiles and trams’.

She posted scenic photos of the city’s grand architecture, her and her partner together, and two small beers by the coast as the sun set over Lisbon.

The couple tragically lost their lives on Wednesday evening when the funicular train they were on derailed and crashed into a building near Restauradores Square.

Investigators are still working to establish the exact cause of the funicular crash. Authorities have said they believe a broken cable caused the train to derail.

Details began to emerge about the sixteen people who died only on Friday.

21 people were injured, with casualties taken to hospitals across the Portuguese capital.

Police were finally able to identify all of the victims on Friday, stating that among the dead there were five Portuguese nationals, three Britons, two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.

They were also able to clarify that a German father who had previously been reported to have died was alive, at a hospital in the capital. 

Multiple agencies are still investigating what Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described as ‘one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past’.

The distinctive yellow-and-white funicular streetcar came off its rails at 6.05pm on Wednesday, September 3, careening down a hill towards a sharp bend before crashing into a hotel corner building.

The Elevador de Glória, used by millions of tourists and locals alike every year, was packed as Lisbon’s rush hour peaked.

The streetcar was heading downhill towards the city centre from the vibrant Bairro Alto when it crashed.

Details remain scant as to the exact cause of the accident. The Lisbon Firefighters Regiment said it was likely caused by a cable that came loose in the structure of the funicular.

But Carris, the company that operates the railway, said that ‘we cannot assume the problem lies with the cable’.

They insisted that the funicular had undergone its full maintenance checks last year, and been looked over just nine hours before the crash.

CEO Pedro de Brito Bogas said on Thursday that there were six technicians, supervised by three engineers, that were responsible for maintaining the elevator.

But Mr Bogas did not detail what the visual inspection on September 3 entailed, or say whether all the cables were tested when asked.

Chief police investigator Nelson Oliveira said a preliminary police report with a broader scope is expected within 45 days.

Aside from investigations by police, public prosecutors and government transport experts, Carris said it has opened its own investigation into the crash.

The investigating Policia Judiciaria said on Friday that it had now identified all of those who perished in the accident.

It confirmed there were no British nationals among the injured survivors.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday afternoon, upon release of the new information, that he was ‘deeply saddened’.

A Number 10 spokesman said: ‘His thoughts are with their families and those affected by this terrible incident. We stand united with Portugal during this difficult time.’

Portuguese police were also able to clarify on Friday that a German father who had previously been reported to have died was alive, at a hospital in the capital.

The statement did not provide an explanation for the error.

Local media had reported a three-year-old German child had been saved from the wreckage as his father lay dying and his mother remained trapped with a broken spine.

She remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, authorities said.

The family, from Hamburg, travelled to Portugal to identify the body of the 46-year-old father reported to have died.

When they could not identify him among the victims, they were taken to the São José hospital in Lisbon and found him among the injured casualties.

Officials made progress towards identifying those who lost their lives in the accident on Friday, publishing a list of nationalities based on forensic identification.

Families will have to be notified first if they are to publicly share any details.

The transport workers’ trade union SITRA first identified André Marques, 40, as the brakeman on board the tram who lost his life in the crash.

A statement from Carris published on Thursday remembered Mr Marques as a ‘dedicated, kind and happy professional, always willing to contribute to the greater good’.

Pedro Trinidade, from Portugal, was also identified through tributes.

He was a teacher at the Higher School of Hotel Management and Tourism, a referee and a member of the Portuguese Volleyball Federation.

Sandra Coelho, from Portugal, was identified earlier among the fatalities. She was an employee of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Lisbon, the largest charity in Portugal.

Alda Matias, also from Portugal, was also identified as one of four employees of the company who lost their lives in the disaster. She worked as a lawyer in Lisbon.

Ana Lopes, from Proença-a-Nova in Portugal, was the third known employee of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia. She leaves behind a daughter, according to CNN Portugal.

‘This tragedy – goes beyond our borders,’ Montenegro said in a televised address from his official residence. 

Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and long lines of people typically form for the streetcar’s short and picturesque trip a few hundred meters up and down a city street.

Hundreds of people attended a somber Mass Thursday evening at Lisbon’s Church of Saint Dominic. 

Montenegro, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas were among the attendees, some dressed in black, in the candlelit sanctuary. 

In the coming days, investigators will continue to work to establish how the funicular – which has operated in Lisbon since the late 19th century – derailed.

‘The city needs answers,’ the mayor said, adding that talk of possible causes is ‘mere speculation’.

Officials declined to comment on whether a faulty brake or a snapped cable may have prompted the descending streetcar to careen into a building where the steep downtown road bends.

The streetcar underwent a scheduled full maintenance program last year and the company conducted a 30-minute visual inspection of it every day, Carris CEO Pedro de Brito Bogas said Thursday. 

Lisbon’s City Council halted operations of three other funicular streetcars while immediate inspections were carried out.