Lisbon, Portugal (AP) – Derailment of the streetcar, a popular tourist attraction in Portugal’s capital, killed 16 people and injured 21 people. Emergency services said. At least half of the victims were foreigners.
Authorities called the accident one of Lisbon’s worst tragedy in recent memory.
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Ongoing investigation
Official details of crash In downtown, Lisbon was still scarce, even on Thursday morning. Authorities called Wednesday’s derailment an accident, but the government said various official investigations were ongoing.
“Cities need answers,” said Lisbon Mayor Carlos Modus.
Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency said the death toll rose to 17 early on Thursday. It later corrected it to 16 people and said it was lapsed due to duplicate information available.
Witnesses told local media that the tram had run out of control as they ran down the hill around 6pm on Wednesday during evening rush hour. One witness said the tram had collapsed by a man on the sidewalk.
The sides and top of the yellow and white tram known as the Elevedor da Gloria were crumpled, appearing to have crashed into a curved building.
Carris, the company that operates the tram, said the scheduled maintenance was undertaken.
Authorities refused to speculate whether the brakes were broken or the snapped cable could have caused the derailment.
Many foreigners among the dead
The Portuguese Attorney General’s Office said eight casualties have been identified so far. Five Portuguese, two Koreans and one Swiss.
According to head of National Investigative Police, Louis Neves, the victims include two Canadians, one American, a German and one Ukrainian. The three continue to be identified.
Among the injured are Spaniards, Israelis, Portuguese, Brazilians, Italians, French and Alvaro Santos Almeida, executive director of Portuguese National Health Service.
“It’s a tragedy we’ve never seen,” Mayor Modus said.
“This tragedy… crosses our borders,” said Prime Minister Louis Montenegro.
The sadness of the nation
Portugal was observing a national mourning day on Thursday.
“The tragic accident has caused irreparable losses of human lives, mourning families and disappointing the nation,” the government said in a statement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed her sadness.
“It’s sad to learn that the famous Elevedor da Gloria was derailed,” she wrote in Portuguese on social platform X.
140 years of service
Trams, technically known as performance, are utilized with steel cables, and descending vehicles help to help lift other vehicles with their weight. It can carry over 40 people sitting and standing. The service, located up and down the hill on a curved, traffic-free road, was launched in 1885.
It is classified as a national monument.
