Six people were burnt to death following an accident in the early hours of this morning close to the United States embassy in Lisbon.
The location, in Avenida das Forças Armadas, was initially given as potentially relevant. Subsequent investigations would appear to suggest that this was simply a terrible tragedy. Authorities have managed to determine the identity of the driver (a youth aged 19) and his frontseat passenger (aged 20). They are now piecing together information on the others who died. Everything is pointing towards another young men and three young women – all aged between 18 and 21.
Early reports suggested it was almost impossible to identify even the genders of the victims, such was the force of the blaze that consumed the car.
For now, all that is clear is that the car “skidded off the road, crashed into a pillar and caught fire. Inside were six people who were burned to death”.
The incident happened at ‘around 3.40 this morning’ . A PSP agent on guard duty at the US embassy witnessed the impact and immediately alerted authorities.
According to PSP commissioner Duarte Diniz the causes of the accident are being investigated by the PSP’s Road Accident Investigation Brigade, together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and it is still to be determined whether the driver had a driver’s licence, as all he was carrying in the form of identification appears to have been his citizen’s card.
Commissioner Diniz also highlighted the fact that the car, a BMW, was overcrowded: “there were six passengers, two [people] in the front and four in the back seat,” so it can be concluded that at least one of those in the back will not have been wearing a seatbelt.
“It all happened very quickly” the commissioner has explained. “The agent (at the embassy) witnessed the accident, but when he arrived at the scene the vehicle was already on fire and he immediately called the emergency services. A few minutes later the emergency services were on site,” he said, noting that the car hit the pavement and was thrown into the parking lot.
At the scene of the accident, in the Sete Rios area, were the PSP (Public Security Police), INEM (National Institute of Medical Emergency), doctors from the National Institute of Legal Medicine (INML), and firefighters.
The commissioner also said that the young people are believed all to be friends, thus some family members made their way to INML (the National Institute of Legal Medicine) as soon as the first two victims were identified.
The section of Avenida das Forças Armadas was cordoned off this morning as authorities carried out forensic examinations.
Source: LUSA/ SIC Notícias/ Vigilantes de Estrada Facebook
