LISBON, Portugal (AP) — An electrical streetcar that’s one in every of Lisbon’s landmarks and a giant draw for vacationers derailed Wednesday, killing 15 individuals and injuring 18 others, emergency providers mentioned.
5 of the injured are in severe situation, and a baby is among the many injured, the Nationwide Institute for Medical Emergencies mentioned in a press release. An unknown variety of the injured are foreigners, it mentioned.
Authorities referred to as it an accident, the worst within the metropolis’s current historical past.
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA by way of Getty Photographs
The yellow-and-white streetcar, which fits up and down a steep downtown hill in tandem with one going the other manner, was mendacity on its aspect on the slender highway that it travels alongside, Portuguese tv channels confirmed.
Its sides and prime had been partially crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed right into a constructing the place the highway bends. A number of dozen emergency staff had been on the scene however most stood down after about two hours.
Eyewitnesses informed native media that the streetcar careened down the hill, apparently uncontrolled.
Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas informed reporters on the scene that town was in mourning. “This was a tragic accident … It’s a tragedy of the like we’ve never seen.”
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa provided his condolence to affected households.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen additionally despatched her condolences. “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous Elevador da Gloria,” she wrote in Portuguese on X.
The reason for the accident was not instantly identified. It reportedly occurred at first of the night rush hour, round 6 p.m.
An investigation into the causes will start as soon as the rescue operation is over, the Portuguese authorities mentioned in a press release.
The streetcar, often known as Gloria, can carry greater than 40 individuals, seated and standing. It’s generally utilized by Lisbon residents.
The streetcar, technically referred to as a funicular, is named Elevador da Gloria. Two streetcars run parallel to one another as they shuttle up and down the hill on a curved, traffic-free highway for just a few hundred meters (yards).
It’s categorized as a nationwide monument.
Lisbon hosted round 8.5 million vacationers final yr, and the streetcar is a well-liked attraction. Lengthy traces of vacationers usually type for the temporary experience on it.
