A witness in Lisbon said it sounded like a bomb went off just after 6pm Wednesday. In fact, a carriage on the Portuguese capital city's famous Gloria funicular derailed, descending about 800 feet down a steep hill and quickly gaining speed until it crashed into a building, crumpling and landing on its side, per the BBC and CBS News. For a moment, the scene was masked by "pitch black smoke," the witness, Helen Chow, tells the BBC. Once it cleared, "it was awful," said Chow, describing people in panic, crying and running to help. Officials updated the death toll to 16 on Thursday, per the AP. Another 21 people were injured, five seriously. A 3-year-old is said to be among the group.
The funicular features two yellow-and-white streetcars on steel cables, run by electric motors. One travels uphill, the other moves downhill, passing each other briefly during a three-minute trip. Just before one carriage hit the building, the other carriage near the bottom had started to ascend the hill but then lurched backward, making a hard stop at the end of the tracks, causing passengers to fall to the ground, witnesses tell the BBC. Some escaped through windows, then ran in fear of being struck by the other carriage, but it crashed into a building on a bend before it could reach the bottom of the hill. One witness said it struck a man on the sidewalk, per the AP.
Though firefighters reportedly mentioned a loose cable, officials declined to speculate about the cause of the crash on Thursday. Streetcar operator Carris, conducting its own investigation, only said that scheduled maintenance had been carried out. Those injured on the major tourist attraction hail from numerous countries, including Portugal, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, South Korea and Cape Verde, per the AP. Authorities haven't provided details about the deceased, though the transport workers trade union SITRA identified one of those killed as the streetcar's brakeman, Andre Marques.
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