At least 15 people have been killed and 18 others injured after Lisbon’s historic Gloria Funicular derailed and crashed on Tuesday evening, according to Portuguese emergency services. Authorities confirmed that among the injured was a child.Portugal’s emergency medical authority reported that five of the injured remain in serious condition, while 13 sustained minor wounds. Officials said all those trapped at the scene have since been rescued.The crash occurred at around 18:05 local time near Avenida da Liberdade. Sixty-two emergency service personnel and 22 vehicles were deployed to the site. Images from the scene show emergency responders working among wreckage piled along the street and the area cordoned off by police. .Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the derailment. Local newspaper Observador reported that a cable may have come loose along the railway, leading the carriage to lose control before colliding with a nearby building. Officials stressed that it is too early to confirm these reports.Eyewitness Teresa d’Avó told Observador that panic spread quickly as the funicular began to lose control. “The people inside were obviously scared, and we rushed to help,” she said. “Soon after, we saw the elevator upstairs was out of control, 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 services arrived within minutes.The Gloria Funicular, one of Lisbon’s best-known trams, carries passengers up the steep 275-metre route between Restauradores Square and the Bairro Alto neighborhood. Built to handle the city’s hilly terrain, the funiculars are used daily by locals but are especially popular with tourists. With the summer season drawing to a close, Lisbon has been particularly busy in recent weeks.Authorities say investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.
