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Portugal woke up this Thursday in shock, with a day of official mourning across the country due to the tragedy that struck the center of the capital.
The Gloria funicular, one of its major tourist attractions, derailed Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least 17 dead.
Immediately after the accident, fifteen dead were reported, and twenty-three injured, five in very serious condition. Two of these people died during the early hours of the morning.
The Portuguese authorities are investigating the causes of the accident. Initial reports indicate the breakage of one of the two safety cables of the popular elevator, or funicular, which connects Praça dos Restauradores (in the lower part of the city) with Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara (in Bairro Alto), covering approximately 265 meters with a gradient of more than 17%, for a total of 48 meters.
The system of these popular elevators consists of two yellow vehicles—numbered 1 and 2—traveling in opposite directions and connected by the aforementioned underground cable that broke. As one went up, the other went down, acting as a counterweight and balancing the mechanical stress. Each vehicle could carry around 40 passengers, transporting around three million residents and tourists annually.
This Wednesday, the number 1 tram involved in the accident was descending towards Baixa when, without the natural brake of the counterweight system due to a broken cable, the car lost control, accelerated down the steep slope, and derailed, crashing violently into a building on Calzada da Gloria. The vehicle was overturned in the street, completely destroyed. The second car, which was at the other end of the line, was stopped thanks to the guardrails and did not derail, thus avoiding an even more serious accident.
