A young father who was due to marry his girlfriend is feared to be among the seven people killed in Wednesday’s tram derailment, as friends paid tribute on Facebook to the “young, genuine, devoted family man”.
The identities of those killed in the incident, which took place in New Addington, south London, have not yet been formally confirmed. But friends and family members identified Mark Smith and two other victims in tributes on social media. A fourth person killed in the crash, 19-year-old Dane Chinnery, was named by friends on Thursday.
Smith could “make everyone laugh”, according to a tribute posted by his cousin. “Still cannot believe this is true, the last couple of days have just felt like a nightmare that I’m gonna wake up from.”
A friend has set up a crowdfunding page aiming to raise £5,000 to support Smith’s fiancee, Indre Novikovaite, and his son Lucas. On Friday afternoon it had raised more than £2,000.
Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, who has a husband and two daughters aged five and seven, has not been heard from since she left for work on Wednesday morning. Relatives told the Evening Standard the couple had moved to the UK from Poland 10 years ago. They said though Rynkiewicz’s death had yet to be officially confirmed, more than two days after the crash they feared the worst. Her sister-in-law described her as “an amazing mother and definitely a hard-working person”, adding: “She was on her way to work so early in the morning to provide for her kids.”
Her sister-in-law said there was no other family in England, so Rynkiewicz’s husband would have to raise her daughters alone.
Philip Seary, 57, is also missing. The father of three, a Crystal Palace fan, lived with his wife, Vivian, in New Addington. Friends left tributes on Facebook to the “most kind, giving person we’ll ever have in our lives”.
The tram has now been turned upright and will be removed from the site on Friday. It appears to have come off the rails as it travelled too fast round a bend, which has a recommended speed limit of 12 mph, shortly after 6am. Passengers said the driver, who was arrested after the crash, may have blacked out.
On Friday, an extra minute’s silence was added to Croydon’s Armistice Day ceremony to allow people to remember those who died in the crash.
DCC Adrian Hanstock, of the British transport police (BTP), paid tribute to the people of the town for their strength and resilience. He also praised the emergency services and other workers who “worked round the clock” to help those affected by the crash.
“This has been a challenging and difficult week for everyone in Croydon, not least for those directly affected and the local community,” he said. “I want to thank everyone for their continued patience while we fully investigate the circumstances of what happened.”
He said the tram was expected to be moved from the track over the next 24 hours. The line is expected to remain closed over the weekend.
Police are also looking at claims from passengers that a tram almost came off the tracks in the same place last week. A spokeswoman for BTP said officers were investigating the allegations that surfaced on Facebook after the crash, describing how an early morning tram had taken the bend too fast on 31 October and braked hard.
Andy Nias, from Croydon, wrote on that date on Facebook: “30 of us on the tram this morning and we all thought our time was up … tram driver took the hard corner to Sandilands at 40mph!! I swear the tram lifted on to one side. Everyone still shaking … it’s mad.”
James Tofield shared a message he had sent to his wife at the same time, describing how the tram driver had braked and narrowly managed to stay on the track, adding: “It was like a ride from Alton Towers.”
A police spokeswoman said: “We were only made aware of the report on social media yesterday and it’s now forming part of our inquiries.” She declined to discuss this or other lines of inquiry further because it was an active investigation.
The tram driver, a 42-year-old man from Beckenham in south London, was released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
The Rail Accident Investigation Board said on Friday it would publish an interim report next week outlining the causes of the crash. The RAIB has appealed for more witnesses to come forward.
The investigation, which runs independently from police inquiries, will reserve its full conclusions and recommendations to improve tram safety for a final report next year.
