Portugal has declared a day of mourning after 16 people were killed and 21 injured when a funicular railway car derailed and crashed in Lisbon. The accident occurred shortly after 6pm on Wednesday during the evening rush hour, with witnesses reporting that the car appeared out of control as it sped downhill.
The Elevador da Glória, a historic yellow-and-white funicular railway dating back to 1885, is one of Lisbon's most popular tourist attractions. It carries around 3 million passengers annually along a steep 260-metre route connecting Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto district.
Witnesses described seeing one of the two parallel streetcars careening down the hill before crashing into a building at a bend in the road. The system operates using steel cables, with one car's descent pulling the other uphill.
Foreign nationals are among the dead, though authorities have not yet identified victims or disclosed their nationalities. Portugal's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, offered condolences, while Lisbon's mayor, Carlos Moedas, called it 'a tragedy of the like we've never seen.'
