The first light over Lisbon revealed the shattered remains of the Gloria funicular, its distinctive yellow carriages in ruins after it derailed and crashed on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 21.
Since 1885, the cable railway has carried locals and visitors up and down a few hundred meters of a steep cobbled street that links Restauradores Square, a lively plaza commemorating Portugal’s independence from Spain, to the Bairro Alto district.
But on Wednesday, just as the evening rush hour was starting, one of its two cars derailed and plummeted down the street before crashing into a building, local media reported.
Footage showed frantic rescue efforts as some passengers were pulled from one of the destroyed cars while others clambered through the windows of another further down the track amid heavy smoke.
A three-year-old boy from Germany was pulled from the debris by a police officer. The boy’s father died in the crash and his mother remains in critical condition, CNN Portugal reports.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said Thursday afternoon that 16 people had died in the accident. Authorities had previously said that 17 people had been killed.
The Gloria funicular can carry more than 40 passengers and consists of two streetcars connected by a steel cable. Each car operates as a counterweight to the other.
One woman described seeing one of the carriages hurtling down the hill “at full speed” with “no brakes.”
“It hit a building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box,” she told Portuguese TV channel SIC.
Teresa d’Avo was among those on the street who fled from the tracks fearing the “out of control” carriage would collide with the one below.
“But it fell around the bend and crashed into a building,” she told local newspaper Observador.
Another witness told local media that the streetcar toppled onto a man on the sidewalk.
Emergency officials said all victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours, with dozens of crew members at the scene.
SITRA, a trade union, wrote in a post on social media that one of its members was among those killed.
Local authorities say it is too early to determine the cause of the incident.
However, the Lisbon Firefighters Regiment reported that a cable detached along the line, causing the funicular to lose control and crash into a neighboring building, according to Observador.
As the scale of the catastrophe unfolds, the nation awakens on Thursday to three days of mourning declared by the government.
Suspended events include a book festival at Belém Palace, originally scheduled to run from Thursday to Sunday with literary signings, concerts and games.
Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to families affected by the incident which Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas called “a tragedy of the like we’ve never seen.”
