British media have identified the couple. Smith and Nelson died together with fourteen others when the iconic Glória cable tram of a hill collapsed in Lisbon and bumped into a building. According to The Telegraph, Smith graduated from the Arden School of Theater in Manchester, where Nelson worked as a theater director.
Lisbon mourns after shocking crash and is looking for answers: ‘Cable tram employees already warned that things would go wrong’
In addition, Nelson was also a teacher at the University of Cumbria. “Over the past ten years, he has conducted research into the connections between radical political and artistic movements, in particular the idea of a British avant-garde,” said an online biography of the forties.
A few hours before the accident, Smith still posted photos on Instagram of her stay in Portugal. She shared pictures of the center of the Portuguese capital, some sights, selfies with her husband and also a tram. “Lisbon day 1: churches and castles, tiles and trams,” the caption reads.
A good friend of Smith and Nelson mentions the former “a quirky and sweet, dear lady. I have known her since she was a teenager,” Lesley Guymer told The Telegraph. “And Will was such a great man. Big beard, charming, whole, whole, very sweet.”
Theatervereniging Trept for death Kayleigh Smith
Smith has been a member of an amateur theater association in Macclesfield for years. In a statement on the website, the MADS Theater says that with ‘great sorrow’, they know knowledge names of the death of the couple. “Kayleigh was a valued member of our association and made significant contributions to both MADs and the drama world in Northwest England. It is a big loss for all of us in the theater.”
In addition, Smith was a “award -winning director and an actress nominated for several prizes. But above all she was a dear Vrindin for many and will be missed enormously.” In addition to Smith and Nelson, an 82-year-old British man died at the tram accident, but more is not known about him.
Eyewitnesses saw cable tram in Lisbon collide at full speed on the building: ‘collapsed like a house of cards’
The victims also include an employee of the tram itself. André Jorge Gonçalves Marques was a brake keeper on the cable tram that crashed. According to employer Carris, Marques was a “dedicated, friendly and cheerful professional, who was always willing to contribute to the greater good”.
In addition to the fatalities, 23 were also injured. The killed victims came from Portugal (5), Great Britain (3), Canada (2), South Korea (2), France (1), Ukraine (1), the US (1) and Switzerland (1). There were no Dutch people in the tourist tram. A German who was previously dismissed turned out to live later.