Lisbon mourns 17 victims of cable car crash as investigation begins
A view shows the site of the accident after Gloria funicular railway car, a popular tourist attraction, derailed and crashed, resulting in multiple casualties, according to authorities, in Lisbon, Portugal, September 4, 2025 (Photo: REUTERS/Pedro Nunes)
LISBON: Flags flew at half-mast in Lisbon on Thursday (Sep 4) after at least 17 people were killed and 38 injured in a crash of a hillside funicular railway popular with tourists, while Portuguese authorities began investigating the cause of the accident.
The city's remaining two lines were shut for inspections, authorities said.
Footage from the site showed the mangled wreckage of the yellow tram-like funicular, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, lying where it had left the track and hit a building, just metres from another car at the bottom of the hill.
Eliane Chaves, a Brazilian who has lived in Lisbon for 20 years, said she walked past the funicular every day.
"It is truly sad," she said. "People say that it was negligence, but it was not negligence. They supervise it thoroughly. It was an accident, just like a plane or car accident can happen."
CABLE TENSION COMPLAINTS
Manuel Leal, leader of the Fectrans union, told local TV that workers on the Gloria railway - one of the symbols of the city - had complained about problems with the funicular's haulage cable tension that made braking difficult, but it was too early to say if that was the cause of the crash.
The municipal public transport company Carris said in a statement that "all maintenance protocols have been carried out", including monthly and weekly maintenance programmes and daily inspections.
The line's two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars that counterbalance each other.
As the cable apparently snapped, the car that was coming down the 265-metre slope lost its braking and derailed on a turn, crashing into a corner building.
The car at the bottom of the line jolted back a couple of metres and was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders showed several passengers jumping out of its windows.
Lisbon resident Abel Esteves, 75, and his wife and grandson were among 40 passengers in the lower car who saw the carriage plunge towards them before derailing at the last second.
"I told my wife: 'We're all going to die here'," he said. "It picked up a brutal speed, took a slight turn and hit the building with a loud bang."
FOREIGNERS AMONG LISBON FUNICULAR DEAD
Flags flew at half-mast as Portugal declared a day of mourning, and the city's two other funiculars were shut for inspections. The Pope sent condolences and blessings to victims, relatives and rescuers.
"This is one of the greatest human tragedies in our recent history,” Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said in a press conference on Thursday, adding that he expected the investigation into the causes of the accident to be concluded swiftly.
He said Portugal's state airline TAP had offered to provide transport for the families of the victims and to repatriate the injured and the deceased.
Thirty-eight people were hurt in the accident, in addition to those killed. Among the injured are four Portuguese, two Germans, two Spanish, one Korean, one Cape Verdean, one Canadian, one Italian, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Moroccan, Martins said.
Some local media reported that a German family-of-three was among the victims, including a three-year-old child who suffered minor injuries, while the father died and the mother was seriously hurt.
Portugal, and Lisbon in particular, has experienced a tourism boom in the past decade, with visitors cramming the popular downtown area in the summer months.
The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon's downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto, or Upper Quarter, famous for its vibrant nightlife.
The Gloria line transports around 3 million people annually, according to the town hall.
