Portugal is in mourning after a deadly cable car crash in Lisbon killed at least 17 people on Wednesday. The government declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, calling it the city’s worst accident in recent memory.
The Elevador Da Gloria, a popular tourist streetcar, or funicular, derailed Wednesday evening and slammed into a building, resulting in at least 17 deaths and more than 20 people injured.
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A witness told Portuguese television channel SIC that the car “fell apart like a cardboard box” upon impact. She said the streetcar was out of control and appeared to have no brakes.
Authorities have not speculated on the cause, but investigators are looking at whether a snapped cable or faulty brakes played a role.
The city has halted operations of three other funiculars for inspection.
The victims
According to Margarida Castro Martins, the head of Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency, all of the individuals killed were adults. However, she did not provide their names or nationalities.
Officials say of those injured, at least five are in critical condition. Those injured are from around the globe, including individuals from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, South Korea and Cape Verde.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his condolences to the victims before declaring an official day of mourning.
Funicular from the 1800s
The victims’ varying nationalities show how iconic the Elevador Da Gloria cable car is. The yellow tram has been climbing the city’s hills since 1885, linking tourists to panoramic views in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto district.
The cable car travels up and down a few hundred meters of a hill, on a curved, traffic-free road. It can carry more than 40 passengers at a time and draws millions of tourists and locals every year. It’s even classified as a national monument.
Following the incident, the company that operates the streetcar, Carris, released a statement saying that “all maintenance protocols were carried out and complied with” and that the last repairs were done in 2024.
