Funicular derails in Lisbon killing 15 people, emergency services say

Emergency services in Lisbon say 15 people were killed and 18 injured in a funicular derailment.

Five of those hurt are in a serious condition, and a child is among the injured, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies said in a statement.

An unknown number of the injured are foreigners, it said.

Authorities called it an accident, the worst in the city’s recent history.

The funicular carriage derailed in the Portuguese capital at about 6pm on Wednesday, the Portuguese president’s office said.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to the affected families.

Eyewitnesses told local media that the landmark funicular careered down the hill, apparently out of control.

Carris, the company that operates the funicular, said scheduled maintenance had been carried out.

Portugal’s government announced that a day of national mourning would be observed on Thursday.

“A tragic accident … caused the irreparable loss of human life, which left in mourning their families and dismayed the whole country,” it said in a statement.

Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters at the scene that the city was in mourning.

He said: “This was a tragic accident … It’s a tragedy of the like we’ve never seen.”

The yellow and white funicular, which goes up and down a steep city hill, was lying on its side on the narrow road that it travels along, Portuguese television channels showed.

Its sides and top were partially crumpled and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends. Several dozen emergency workers were at the scene but most were stood down after about two hours.

One witness said the carriage toppled onto a man on the pavement.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, local media said. It reportedly occurred at the start of the evening rush hour, around 6pm.

Emergency officials said all victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours.

An investigation into the cause will begin once the rescue operation is over, the Portuguese government said in a statement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent her condolences.

“It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous Elevador da Gloria,” she wrote in Portuguese on X.

The funicular, known as the Elevador da Gloria, can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing. It is commonly used by Lisbon residents.

Two carriages run parallel to each other as they shuttle up and down the hill for a few hundred metres on a curved, traffic-free road. They are harnessed by steel cables.

It is classified as a national monument.

Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and the funicular is a popular attraction.