15 dead & 18 injured after iconic funicular snaps loose, rushes down hill & derails destroying it as dozens are on board
FIFTEEN people are feared dead and at least 18 injured after a tourist-packed cable car in Lisbon derailed and smashed into a building.
The Gloria Funicular – one of the Portuguese capital’s most iconic attractions – came off its tracks at 6.05pm local time after a cable reportedly came loose.
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Local media reported that one of the two cars “fell from a great height.”
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause, but initial reports from Publico suggest a snapped cable triggered the deadly plunge.
Emergency services raced to the scene, with police, firefighters and paramedics battling to free victims amid twisted metal and smoking wreckage.
Civil protection officials said 62 rescue workers and 22 vehicles were deployed to the site.
According to local outlet Observador, there are a total of 18 people injured, including a child, with five in serious condition.
Emergency services told CNN Portugal that nine of those injured are in a serious condition.
The nationalities of the victims have not yet been released.
Chaotic footage showed the yellow car flipped on its side and reduced to wreckage, with smoke billowing as people ran from the scene on foot.
Witness Teresa d’Avo told TV channel SIC: “It crashed into a building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box. It crashed with tremendous force. It didn’t have any kind of brakes.”
She also told Observador she had been standing near the Glória elevator with a colleague when “the elevator that was further down, almost parking, suffered a small jolt.”
Mrs d’Avo recalled: “The people inside were obviously scared, and we rushed to help.
“Soon after, we saw the elevator upstairs running wild, without brakes, and we all started running away because we thought it was going to hit the one below. But it fell around the bend and crashed into the building.”
She added that emergency crews arrived within minutes.
“The police were here within five minutes, and within ten minutes, we had a fire engine here.”
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said: “The President of the Republic deeply regrets the accident that occurred this afternoon with the Gloria funicular railway in Lisbon, particularly the fatalities and serious injuries, as well as the various minor injuries.
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“The President of the Republic offers his condolences and solidarity to the families affected by this tragedy and hopes that the incident will be quickly clarified by the competent authorities.”
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous ‘Elevador da Glória’.
“My condolences to the families of the victims.”
Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas is at the scene overseeing the rescue operation.
The crash happened during the evening rush hour, when both tourists and locals pack the service.
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The funicular, known as Gloria, can carry more than 40 passengers at a time, both seated and standing, and is also frequently used by Lisbon residents for their daily commute.
According to the BBC, 43 people were on board when the car derailed.
The Glória funicular links Praça dos Restauradores to the trendy Bairro Alto district and has ferried tourists up the steep hillside since 1885.
It is one of three of its kind in Lisbon.
Originally, its two-tiered cars were powered by water tanks that filled and emptied to create weight differences, consuming some 400 cubic meters daily from the Amoreiras reservoir.
Frequent shortages soon forced a switch to steam power, before the line was eventually electrified.
Despite those updates, the funicular retained much of its historic character and went on to become one of Lisbon’s best-loved landmarks.
The Glória furnicular has come off the tracks before, though never with such devastating consequences.
On May 7, 2018, a major maintenance fault led to a derailment, but the carriage stayed upright and no one was hurt.
Service was suspended for around a month.
That incident highlighted severe shortcomings in wheel upkeep, which caused them to slip off the rails.
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