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Family's haunting last photo before dying in car crash

A smiling Christmas selfie taken by a family just seconds before their car exploded when it crashed into a ravine has been revealed.

The horror crash on December 23 killed a husband, his wife and their five-year-old daughter and left two others seriously injured.

The photo shows the three dead sitting in the back seat of the car while a woman wearing glasses smiles at the camera from the front seat. Video footage shot after the accident shows the car in flames and then, later, its charred, mangled remains.

Eniceria Dias Medeiros, 31, in the car with Erica Viviane, Marcelo Aquino, and their daughter Marianne Aquino, 5, before the crash.
Eniceria Dias Medeiros, 31, (right) poses with Erica Viviane, Marcelo Aquino, and their daughter Marianne Aquino, 5, for a photo before the crash. Source: CEN/Australscope

The family were travelling to celebrate Christmas with relatives in the Brazilian state of Bahia when the tragedy happened on a road in Santa Luzia do Cariri.

Those confirmed dead are nurse Erica Viviane,32, and her husband Marcelo Aquino, 34, as well as their daughter Marianne Aquino. The two family members who survived were identified as the driver Carlos Medeiros Santos, 34, and the front seat passenger Eniceria Dias Medeiros, 31.

It was not specified in local media how they are related to the rest of the family.

The two survivors were taken to the hospital in the city of Sume but were later transferred to the emergency and trauma hospital in Campina Grande. The three who died had been trapped in the car when it caught fire.

The car in flames in the ravine and the couple who perished in the accident.
Those confirmed dead are nurse Erica Viviane,32, and her husband Marcelo Aquino, 34, as well as their daughter Marianne Aquino. Source: CEN/Australscope

It is unclear why the car left the road and fell into the ravine where it exploded, but police believe the driver lost control and it was noted that they had taken a selfie shortly before the tragedy.

They said that soon after the driver tried to avoid a hole, lost control of the vehicle, and crashed. Police confirmed that the two people hospitalised are expected to survive and the cause of the tragedy is under investigation.

CEN/Australscope

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