A minimum of 15 folks have been killed when Lisbon’s Gloria funicular railcar derailed and crashed, emergency providers mentioned.
Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa shared his condolences with the households affected by what he described as a tragedy.
The Portuguese authorities has introduced a day of nationwide mourning, whereas officers in Lisbon have declared three days of mourning within the capital metropolis.
What occurred in Lisbon?
At about 6:15pm native time (17:15 GMT), a carriage on Lisbon’s world-famous funicular electrical railway derailed and crashed.
Witnesses mentioned they heard a loud noise earlier than one of many trams sped down a steep slope within the metropolis, apparently uncontrolled.
“It hit a constructing with brutal drive and collapsed like a cardboard field; it had no brakes,” a witness advised the AFP information company.
Photographs confirmed the tram carriage toppled on its aspect alongside the slim highway it often travels. The edges and roof of the carriage have been partly crumpled by the affect after it appeared to have struck a bend within the highway at velocity.
Native media reported that emergency crews responded shortly, deploying 62 rescuers and 22 assist automobiles to assist survivors trapped within the wreckage.
Authorities mentioned it was too early to find out the reason for the accident.
The Lisbon Firefighters Regiment reported that the crash was brought on by a “cable that got here free” within the funicular system.
A minimum of 15 folks have been killed and 18 others injured, 5 of them critically, based on the Nationwide Institute for Medical Emergencies.
What’s a funicular railway?
A funicular is a sort of cable railway constructed to hold passengers up and down steep slopes.
It operates with two counterbalanced vehicles hooked up to reverse ends of the identical cable: as one automotive ascends, the opposite descends, and the burden of the descending automotive helps pull the ascending automotive, making it extremely environment friendly.
Funiculars are generally present in hilly cities and vacationer locations the place standard trains or buses would battle with steep gradients.
The Gloria funicular was opened in Lisbon in 1885 and electrified three many years later. It might carry 43 folks, seated and standing. It’s generally utilized by the capital’s residents.
The place precisely did the crash occur?
The crash befell on a preferred tram line within the centre of Lisbon that connects the town’s downtown space close to the Restauradores Sq. with the Bairro Alto (Higher Quarter), which is understood for its vibrant nightlife.
The funicular derailed and crashed on Rua da Gloria, a well known road in central Lisbon.
Gloria is one among three funicular strains operated by the municipal public transport firm, Carris.
Carris mentioned in a press release that “all upkeep protocols have been carried out”, with the final one happening in 2022, and there have been day by day inspections.
In response to a report by Spanish newspaper El Pais, staff had complained on a number of events about “poor upkeep” on the Gloria line.
The Gloria line transports about three million folks yearly, based on metropolis officers.
O Elevador da Glória descarrilou e tombou esta quarta-feira, junto à Avenida da Liberdade, em Lisboa. Segundo os bombeiros sapadores, o acidente provocou “muitas vítimas”, incluindo feridos graves. pic.twitter.com/ADWpR5c8oe
— Mundo Vivo (@mundo__vivo) September 3, 2025
Translation: The Glory Elevator derailed and overturned this Wednesday, close to Avenida da Liberdade, in Lisbon. In response to the municipal firefighters, the accident brought on “many victims”, together with critical accidents.
What do we all know concerning the victims?
Portugal’s Ministry of Well being mentioned there have been native and overseas surnames among the many victims within the crash, however that their nationalities weren’t but identified.
There have been no kids among the many 15 lifeless, it added.
In whole, 18 folks have been injured. Of these, 9 have been taken to hospital, 5 of them in critical situation. A toddler was additionally injured.
The Spanish Ministry of International Affairs confirmed that two of the injured are Spanish residents, based on Europa Press.
What’s the newest on the bottom?
In response to native studies, all victims have been taken to hospitals by 8:30pm native time (19:30 GMT), and by 9pm (20:00 GMT), police and emergency personnel had cleared the crash web site, the place an investigation into the trigger is underneath approach.
Within the aftermath of the tragedy, the streets across the crash web site full of information media and a whole lot of vacationers stopping to seize photos of the wreckage.
Lisbon’s Metropolis Council shut down the town’s different streetcars and referred to as for pressing inspections, native media reported.
