LISBON, Sept 4 \u2013 At least 15 people have been killed and 18 others injured after a carriage on Lisbon\u2019s famous Gloria funicular derailed and crashed, emergency services said.<\/p>\n
Portugal\u2019s emergency medical service authority said that five of those injured were in a serious condition. <\/p>\n
The remaining 13, including a child, sustained minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Several people were earlier said to have been trapped at the scene. They have all since been freed, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his \u201csympathy and solidarity with the families affected by this tragedy\u201d. <\/p>\n
Lisbon\u2019s mayor, Carlos Moedas, said the capital was \u201cin mourning\u201d, adding it was a \u201ctragic moment for the city\u201d.<\/p>\n
Emergency services said foreigners were among those killed were, although nationalities could not be confirmed.<\/p>\n
It is unclear how many people were on board at the time of the cable railway crash, which occurred near the Avenida da Liberdade around 18:05 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
One witness told Portuguese newspaper Observador the vehicle was \u201cout of control, without brakes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all started running away because we thought [the carriage] was going to hit the one below,\u201d said Teresa d\u2019Av\u00f3.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it fell around the bend and crashed into a building.\u201dAnother told Portuguese TV channel SIC that the funicular hit a building as it sped down the steep street \u201cat full speed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n
The Lisbon authorities say it is too early to determine the cause of this incident.<\/p>\n
However, Observador reported that a cable came loose along the railway\u2019s route, causing it to lose control and collide with a nearby building.<\/p>\n
The transport company which runs the funicular, Carris, said it had opened an investigation, adding that \u201call maintenance protocols\u201d had been respected.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent her condolences to the families of the victims.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s Prime Minster Pedro S\u00e1nchez said he was \u201cappalled by the terrible accident\u201d.<\/p>\n
A funicular is a type of railway system that allows travel up and down steep slopes.<\/p>\n
The two cars on the Gloria funicular are powered by electric motors. They are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable meaning that as one travels downhill, its weight lifts the other, allowing them to ascend and descend simultaneously.<\/p>\n
The Gloria funicular is one of the most famous sights and tourist attractions in Lisbon.<\/p>\n
It was opened in 1885 and electrified three decades later.<\/p>\n
The iconic yellow vehicles are a crucial part of a city as hilly as Lisbon. <\/p>\n
They snake their way up many of the cobbled streets.This particular one that crashed travels some 275m (900ft) from Restauradores, a square in the middle of Lisbon, up to the picturesque, cobbled streets of an area called Bairro Alto \u2013 or high neighbourhood \u2013 taking just three minutes to make the journey.<\/p>\n
It, and the other funiculars, are used by Lisbon residents but they are also extremely popular with tourists \u2013 and at the end of the summer, the Portuguese capital is very busy indeed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LISBON, Sept 4 \u2013 At least 15 people have been killed and 18 others injured after a carriage on Lisbon\u2019s famous Gloria funicular derailed and crashed, emergency services said. Portugal\u2019s emergency medical service authority said that five of those injured were in a serious condition. The remaining 13, including a child, sustained minor injuries. Several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}