At least 17 killed in crash after Lisbon’s historic cable car Gloria derails

Several people were earlier reported to be trapped under the rubble of the railway car that derailed and crashed but all of them have since been freed, authorities said. Portugal’s government declared a national mourning on Thursday following the incident.

Carlos Moedas, mayor of the Portuguese capital Lisbon said, “It’s a tragic day for our city…Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident.” Spain’s Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez said he was “appalled by the terrible accident”.

Spain’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in a statement, lamented the deadly crash in Lisbon and expressed hope that authorities would soon establish what had caused the accident.

Footage from the site showed emergency workers pulling people out of the wreckage and carrying bodies of the deceased. Footage also showed the destroyed yellow tram-like funicular, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in Lisbon.

It remains to be known about how many people were aboard the cable railway before it crashed near the Avenida da Liberdade around 6pm (local time) on Wednesday evening.

According to a witness quoted by Portuguese newspaper Observador, the vehicle was “out of control, without brakes”. “We all started running away because we thought [the carriage] was going to hit the one below,” said Teresa d’Avó, BBC reported.

(with inputs from Reuters, BBC)

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