Portugal declares day of mourning for 15 people killed in Lisbon funicular railway crash

Another 18 people injured when Gloria funicular railway car derails and apparently crashed into a building

HELEN LIVINGSTONE (& agencies) for THE GUARDIAN

A day of national mourning has been declared in Portugal after at least 15 people were killed when Lisbon’s well-known Gloria funicular railway car derailed and crashed on Wednesday.

An emergency services spokesperson said some foreign nationals were among the dead but would not identify the victims or disclose their nationalities. At least 18 people, including a child, were injured, five of them seriously.

Public prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the disaster.

Footage showed the wreckage of the yellow and white car – which is known as Elevador da Glória and goes up and down a steep hill in central Lisbon in tandem with one going the opposite way – lying on its side in the narrow street it traverses.

Its sides and top were crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends. Parts of the vehicle, made mostly of metal, were crushed.

Witnesses told local media that the streetcar careened down the hill, apparently out of control. “It hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box …” Teresa d’Avó told Portuguese TV channel SIC.

One witness said the streetcar toppled on to a man on the pavement.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. It reportedly occurred at the start of the evening rush hour, at about 6pm. Emergency officials said all victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours.

SITRA, a trade union, wrote in a post on social media that one of its members had died in the incident.

“It’s a tragic day for our city … Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident,” Carlos Moedas, the mayor of the Portuguese capital, told reporters.

Portugal’s government declared that Thursday would be a day of national mourning. A statement from the office of prime minister Luis Montenegro said the tragedy “has brought grief to … families and dismay to the country”.

Police investigators were inspecting the site and the prosecutor general’s office said it would open a formal investigation, as is customary in public transport accidents.

In a statement the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, lamented the accident and expressed hope that authorities would soon establish the cause of the crash.

The line, which opened in 1885 and is classified as a national monument, connects the central Lisbon area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto (Upper Quarter), known for its vibrant nightlife.

It is one of three funicular lines operated by the municipal public transport company Carris and is used by tourists as well as residents.

Carris said in a statement that “all maintenance protocols have been carried out”, including monthly and weekly maintenance programmes and daily inspections.

Lisbon’s city council suspended operations of other streetcars in the city and ordered immediate inspections, local media reported.

The Gloria line transports about 3 million people annually, according to the town hall.

Its two cars, each capable of carrying about 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars.

The car at the bottom of the line was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders broadcast by CNN Portugal showed it jolting violently when the other one derailed and several passengers jumping out of its windows and people shouting.

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Britain is the largest source of tourism to Portugal, followed by Germany, Spain and the United States. The US state department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With Reuters and Associated Press