Portugal Is in Mourning Following Tragic Funicular Accident in Lisbon

Tragedy has struck the country of Portugal, as 15 people are confirmed dead and at least 18 people have been injured in a funicular railway car derailment and crash in Lisbon. The unfortunate tragedy follows a heartbreaking string of train derailments over the last several years, this time resulting in more than a dozen dead in Portugal.

Consider the following a trigger warning, as the content below discusses the deaths of individuals in the funicular railway car derailment in Lisbon.

Below, we explore the funicular railway car derailment, as well as what authorities know up to this point. Continue reading to learn more about this heartbreaking tragedy in Portugal.

According to The Guardian, the country of Portugal has declared a national day of mourning after at least 15 people were killed when the Elevador da Glória funicular railway car derailed and crashed on Sept. 3.

Additionally, 18 people were injured, five of whom were said to be "seriously" injured. Of the 18 people injured, at least one is a child, and "some foreign nationals" were said to be among the 15 declared dead, per The Guardian.

"Footage showed the wreckage of the yellow and white car – which is known as Elevador da Glória and goes up and down a steep hill in central Lisbon in tandem with one going the opposite way – lying on its side in the narrow street it traverses," per The Guardian. "Its sides and top were crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends. Parts of the vehicle, made mostly of metal, were crushed."

"Witnesses told local media that the streetcar careened down the hill, apparently out of control. 'It hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box…' Teresa d’Avó told Portuguese TV channel SIC. One witness said the streetcar toppled on to a man on the pavement," according to The Guardian.

"Helen Chow, who was at the base of the hill, told the BBC [that the carriage 'lost control,' descending at full speed and crashing on its side,]" according to a report in the BBC. "It sounded like a bomb, she said, followed by 'complete scary silence... There was pitch black smoke. Once it dissipated, you saw exactly what happened.'"

Per the BBC report, the death toll rose to at least 16 people, with an additional 20 people injured.

Police are still investigating the 140-year-old funicular that crashed in Lisbon.

"Witnesses described how the carriage near the bottom of the hill, which was starting to ascend, crashed a short distance backwards before the upper carriage raced down the incline and into the building," per the BBC. "Rasha Abdo was travelling in the lower carriage when suddenly, 'there were no brakes in our cable car, it was going down fast, with acceleration, like there was no control.'"

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), a funicular railway is a railway that allows a funicular, or railcar, to ascend and descend steep slopes. They are very popular with tourists.

"On a basic level, the funicular can be described as a hybrid of the technologies behind elevators and trains," Anna Harley-Trochimczyk wrote, per ABC. "The typical modern construction involves two cargo or passenger cars attached by a cable around a pulley running along a track."