A famed Lisbon funicular derailed Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than a dozen in one of the Portuguese capital’s most popular tourist spots, officials and media said.
The yellow Gloria funicular, one of the capital’s best-known symbols, overturned at 6:15 local time (1715 GMT) near Liberty Avenue.
“A tragedy that our city has never seen,” Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said, moments before rescuers confirmed a toll of 15 dead and 18 injured in the accident.
Authorities declared Thursday a day of national mourning.
All of the victims have been recovered from the wreckage, said Tiago Augusto, an official with the Inem emergency services, adding that the victims include foreigners.
No other details on the identity of the victims were immediately available.
Images from the scene showed the yellow funicular car, which can hold around 40 passengers) overturned on a steep street, with scores of firefighters and medical personnel at the scene.
The SIC television channel quoted a person as saying that the funicular hit a building as it sped down the steep street “at full speed.”
“It hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes,” the woman said.
The Lisbon public transport operator said that it had complied with “all maintenance protocols.”
“Everything was scrupulously respected,” Pedro Bogas, the head of Lisbon Carris, said at the site of the accident, adding that maintenance of the funiculars has been done by an outside contractor for the past 14 years.
Lisbon’s three funicular cars are popular with tourists and locals alike to get up and down Lisbon’s steep streets.
The yellow funicular is a ubiquitous image on souvenirs in the city’s gift shops.
The Gloria Funicular is the city’s most famous. It first entered into service in 1885, was hooked up to electricity in 1915 and undergoes general maintenance every four years, according to the website of Portugal’s national monuments.
“A tragic accident involving the Gloria funicular caused the irreparable loss of human life, which has brought grief to their families and dismay to the country,” said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
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