TRIBUTES have been paid to a lifelong train enthusiast from North Wales who was killed in the Lisbon funicular tram disaster.
Andrew David Kenneth Young, known to friends and family as Dave, died when the Glória funicular cable railway derailed in the Portuguese capital last Wednesday.
North Wales PoliceAndrew David Kenneth Young, 82, tragically died in the Lisbon funicular accident[/caption]
Carris personnel inspect the wrecked Gloria funicular in LisbonGetty
The 82-year-old from Holyhead has been confirmed as the third British victim of the crash, which left 16 people dead.
A 44-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman were the two other Brits identified in the disaster.
There are said to be no Brits among those still receiving treatment.
In a statement released through North Wales Police, his devastated family said: “Andrew David Kenneth Young was known to most as Dave.
“He was raised in Auchterarder, Perthshire. He moved to Holyhead in 1980 where he had a long career as a customs officer.
“A lifelong transport enthusiast, in retirement he enjoyed visiting heritage railways and tramways around the world.
“It is a comfort to his sons, their mother, and his brothers that his final moments were in pursuit of the hobby which gave him so much happiness.”
Specialist officers are supporting Mr Young’s grieving family, who have asked for privacy.
Among the 16 people killed were five Portuguese nationals, including funicular brakeman André Marques, the first victim to be formally identified.
Hours later, Pedro Trinidade, Alda Matias, Ana Lopes and Sandra Coelho were also named.
Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria confirmed the full list of nationalities, saying: “The nationalities of the 16 fatal victims have been confirmed, after scientific identification, with the collaboration of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
“They are five Portuguese; two South Koreans; one Swiss; three British; two Canadians; one Ukrainian; one American and one French national.”
A German man initially feared dead was later found alive in hospital.
He is thought to be the father of a three-year-old boy who begged police for help after his mother was left seriously injured in the crash.
The Glória funicular, which has operated for 140 years, was carrying a full load of passengers when it jumped the tracks, with one carriage smashing into a building on a bend.
André Marques, the brake guard in charge of the funicular when it derailed, was named and pictured as the very first victim
A woman lays flowers near the scene of the crashGetty
APIt was reported that a cable came loose before the crash[/caption]
Portugal’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations has released its first findings, revealing the two cabins had moved only six metres before disaster struck.
Investigators said the connecting cable “suddenly lost the balancing force” between the carriages.
According to the report, “Cabin No. 2 suddenly reversed, its movement halting approximately 10 meters beyond due to its partial excursion past the end of the track and the burial of the underside of the trambolho (trolley) at the end of the cable trench.”
It added: “Cabin No. 1, at the top of Calcada da Gloria, continued its downward movement, increasing its speed.”
Despite the brakeman’s efforts to use both the pneumatic and hand breaks, the funicular hurtled downhill uncontrollably.
Wreckage examinations later confirmed the connecting cable had snapped at its attachment point.
The funicular, made up of two iconic yellow trams, links Restauradores Square with Lisbon’s Bairro Alto district in three-minute journeys up one of the city’s steepest slopes.
A preliminary and final accident report are expected to follow as investigators continue their work.
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Expert analysis: What went wrong?
PROFESSOR Dave Cooper, Chair the British Standards committee for Cableways in the UK, told The Sun about what may have caused the tragedy.
The funicular was making its usual 2,441ft journey through the Portuguese capital just after 6pm local time.
It was reportedly full with at least 38 people inside, made up of locals and tourists, due to it being rush hour in the busy city.
The brake guard in charge of the funicular, named as André Marques, would have started the descent by pulling a lever to make the cart move along the cables above it.
The Glória line’s two cars are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars that counterbalance each other.
As the journey down the hill started – a trip which should have taken two minutes and 12 seconds – the other tram started to come up like usual.
It is believed that a cable holding the lower streetcar snapped with witnesses hearing a “metallic thud” on the line.
Due to the two trams needing each other to work properly the initial error caused the second carriage to lose control.
Prof Cooper said: “It’s quite clear that the relationship between the two cars has been lost.
“And so, the car at the top seems to have broken free and come out of what we call the suspension.
“Its then literally rolled down the hill like a car with no brakes.”
Witnesses reported seeing the cable hurtling at full speed down the historic route.
Prof Cooper said the amount of people on board at the time and the pure weight of the car caused the speed to become deadly.
Towards the end of the line sits a slight curve in the road which the funicular has to navigate.
When the plunging streetcar reached this intersection it crashed into the curb and smashed into the buildings alongside the street.
Witnesses described the car crumpling like a “cardboard box” when it hit the wall of a hotel and came to an abrupt stop at around 6:05pm local time.
Prof Cooper explained: “When you’ve got somewhere around 12 tons of metal and people careering down a hill, trying to change direction is really, really hard.
“So the magnitude of those forces involved would just want the car to go straight on which is why it’s come off the track.
“It’s just an absolute tragedy.”