Lisbon, Portugal
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Lisbon’s first light derailed and crashed on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 21 before the abandoned in distinctive yellow carriage revealed the broken light shattered ruins.
Since 1885, the Cable Railway has transported locals and visitors up and down a steep, hundreds of metres of cobblestone street that connects Restaurants Square, a vibrant square commemorating Portuguese’s independence from Spain to the Bailo Alto area.
However, local media reported Wednesday that when evening rush hour began, one of the two cars derailed and plunged down the streets before crashing into the building.
The footage pulled some passengers out of one of the destroyed cars, while others roamed another window further down the truck in heavy smoke.
The 3-year-old German boy who survived the incident was pulled from the shrapnel by a police officer.
CNN Portugal reported on Friday that “the child has been discharged from the hospital” after being taken from the scene by emergency services, CNN Portugal reported.
The father of the boy who was killed by police at a press conference on Thursday was “later found overnight hospitalized at San Jose Hospital,” police said in a statement on their website on Friday.
CNN Portugal reported that after undergoing surgery on both feet, “his mother is still hospitalized, but she is stable.”
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said 16 people were killed in the accident on Thursday afternoon. Police confirmed Friday that they killed 16 nationalities.
Authorities previously said 17 people had been killed.
The Gloria founcular can carry more than 40 passengers and consists of two streetcars connected by steel cables. Each car acts as a counterweight for other cars.
One woman said she saw one of the carriages running down the hill “at full speed” “without brakes.”
“It hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box,” she told Portuguese television channel SIC.
Theresa Dubbo was among those on the street who fled the truck for fear that a “out of control” carriage would collide with the one below.
“But it went winding down and crashed into the building,” she told the local newspaper of Obsabador.
Another witness told local media that the tram had collapsed by a man on the sidewalk.
Emergency officials said all casualties were pulled out of the wreckage in just two hours and dozens of crew members were on the scene.
Union Citra wrote in a social media post that one of its members was among those killed.
Local governments say it’s too early to determine the cause of the incident.
However, the Lisbon Firefighters Regiment reported that the cables had peeled along the line, losing control of performance and struck an adjacent building.
As the scale of the catastrophe unfolds, the nation will wake up on Thursday and be in mourning for three days declared by the government.
The suspended events include the main festival at Belem Palace, originally scheduled to be held at literary signatures, concerts and games from Thursday to Sunday.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebello de Sousa expressed his sadness to his family affected by what Lisbon mayor Carlos Modus called “a tragedy we have never seen.”
European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Reyen also said that neighbouring Spain prime minister Pedro Sanchez was “a bitterly appalled by a horrifying accident.”
The Lisbon City Council has stopped operating other trams in the city and ordered immediate inspections, local media reported.
Police investigators are inspecting the site and said the prosecutor’s office will begin a formal investigation, as is customary in public transport accidents.
Following another accident on the same line in May 2018, one of the cars was derailed due to defective wheel maintenance, Reuters reported. No one was killed in that incident.
Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and long people were formed to experience Gloria’s short journey.
It was designated as a national monument and is ridden by about 3 million passengers every year, according to tourism officials.
The story was updated by the development, including updating information from the police regarding revised deaths and casualties from the incident.
Duarte Mendonca of CNN contributed to this report.
