A TEEN football fan on his way to work has been named as the first victim of the Croydon tram crash that killed seven.
Dane Chinnery, 19, was one of those who died when the tram came off rails and careered on to its side.
FACEBOOK / DANE RODDERS CHINNERY
FACEBOOK / DANE RODDERS CHINNERY
Today friends and family paid tribute to the Crystal Palace fan as it emerged a young child is also thought to be among the victims.
Lloyd Allen wrote: “ A lovely caring beautiful inside and out young man was taken far too soon yesterday.
“I never heard a bad word about him or him have a bad word to say about anyone.
“He was a credit to everyone in the Chinnery-Hall family.
“Gonna miss you lovely boy.”
Conner Lawrence wrote on Facebook: “ Words can’t even begin to describe how we are all feeling.
“Dane is the funniest boy I’ve ever met in my life.
“If anyone ever needed anything he’d be there doing all he can to help.”
FACEBOOK / DANE RODDERS CHINNERY
Fans of Crystal Palace are now trying to arrange a tribute to the teen who was on his way to work at flood response firm Hydro Cleansing Ltd.
One wrote: “The life of our brother was taken from him. Aged 19, Dane lost his life with the tram crash on his way to work.
“He was red, white and blue all the way through, and simply loved Palace.”
Tom Dale, 20, was on the tram and recalled nodding over to his old school friend Mr Chinnery, who was already sitting on the tram when he boarded.
The pair, who went to Addington High School together and took part in performing arts, were on their way to work.
Mr Dale said that after the tram crashed he was looking for his friend, and asking, “Where’s Dane? Where’s Dane?”, but all he could see was Mr Chinnery’s boot where he had been sitting.
“It was like walking out of a war zone,” the chef said.
Mr Dale, who was badly bruised, said of Mr Chinnery: “He was just a friendly, genuine lad, did no harm to nobody really. No one deserves for this to happen to them.”
The family of victim Dane were today too distraught to speak about their loss.
JIM BENNETT
More than 50 people were injured yesterday when the tram crashed just after 6am in east Croydon yesterday morning.
The driver, a 42-year-old man from Beckenham, was freed on conditional police bail.
Building site supervisor Rui De-sa, 31, told how a commuter beside him was decapitated amid carnage after the driver seemed to take a tight curve too fast.
The father of two, who was among 51 injured when the tram came off rails and careered on to its side, said: “A man next to me had no head.
“Every time I close my eyes that is all I see — his body.”
Fellow passengers on the early morning Croydon Tramlink service in South London told how one man was flung through a window.
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Others were left trapped and screaming in the wreckage.
Cleaner Martin Bamford, 30, said after police arrested the driver for suspected manslaughter: “There was a girl who was on top of me and she did not look very much alive at all.
“She was bleeding all over the place. I don’t think she made it.
“People had broken legs and head injuries. There was blood everywhere. It was carnage.”
The dad-of-four, who lives in New Addington where the tram had set off, yelled to the driver to ask if he was OK.
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JIM BENNETT
Martin revealed: “He just said, ‘I think I blacked out’.”
A source close to the probe into the horror said the driver told police the same.
Martin last night told how he thought the tram was travelling at up to 60mph.
The cleaner, who was injured and taken to Croydon University Hospital, said: “Normally the bend would be taken at six or seven miles an hour.
“This felt like 50 or 70. It just sling-shotted everyone to the other side of the carriage, people on top of people.”
The tram had set off at 5.40am bound for Wimbledon.
The speed limit for the sharp left turn at Sandilands is 12mph.
The Rail Accident Investigation Board last night said the tram was thought to have been going “significantly faster”.
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
More than 100 emergency workers battled for six hours to free everyone from the wrecked tram.
The last of those trapped was taken to hospital at around midday.
As rescuers raced against time PM Theresa May praised their efforts dealing with the “terrible incident”.
Passengers were taken to two hospitals — with 43 described as “walking wounded”.
Eight others with severe injuries included three who were left fighting for life.
Surgeons were last night battling to save them, raising fears the death toll could rise.
Survivor Rui, who has caught the tram every day for a year, was heading to work in Kingston.
He suffered a sprained arm and bruised foot — and told how screaming commuters were “thrown about like toys in a box”.
He said: “I’ve been getting trams for 9½ years and never felt them go that fast.
“I was sat on my phone on Facebook and suddenly everything was pitch black.
“There was just screaming and moaning. People were everywhere on the floor.
JIM BENNETT
“I wanted to call my wife but my phone was broken.
“Everyone started reaching for their phones.
“I asked a man if I could borrow his.
“I called my wife and told her. ‘I’m OK but a lot of people are not’.
“It took about ten minutes for an ambulance to arrive, then another five minutes for them to break in. They got in through the back window.
“People were banging on the walls of the tram, screaming and begging for water.
JIM BENNETT
“The police let people out and started to give first aid to those who were bleeding.
“We waited for the people who needed help the most to be taken away then we were taken by bus to the hospital.”
“In one way I am very lucky. I have been slightly hurt. Maybe my hoodie protected my head.
“But for others it is much worse. My thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones.”
He told how the journey started out like any other, saying: “Every day it is the same faces and everyone nods at each other politely.
“You say ‘hello’ because you get the tram with these people every day.
“Normally there is a woman with two children young children who gets on.
“Luckily in recent weeks I haven’t seen her.”
Fellow survivor Nathan Gibson, 21, posted a Facebook snap of blood pouring from his cut eye.
The railworker, who also suffered from bruises to his head, said drily: “Not the best look to have today. Some a lot more worse off.”
His brother later described him as “traumatised”.
Last night it emerged commuters had a lucky escape at the same bend just over a week ago.
Andy Nias told how he was left terrified on the tram.
He even posted on Facebook: “Tram driver took the hard corner to Sandilands at 40mph!! I swear the tram lifted onto one side.”
JIM BENNETT
The tram’s version of an aircraft black box was last night being examined.
British Transport Police assistant chief constable Robin Smith said: “A blackout, falling asleep and a wet track are all being looked into.”
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who toured the crash scene, said: “All of our thoughts go out to the families of those who lost their lives.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan also made a visit.
The Croydon Tramlink is the capital’s only tram network.
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It operates from Wimbledon to Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington, via Croydon.
It is run by Tram Operations Limited, a subsidiary of First Group. Transport for London is responsible for tram frequency, overall performance, maintenance and improvement work.
Last night British Transport Police confirmed: “A 42-year-old man from Beckenham has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and is currently in police custody.”
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