Several dead, injured in Lisbon funicular accident

A famed Lisbon funicular derailed on Wednesday, leaving several people dead and injured in one of the Portuguese capital’s most popular tourist spots, officials and media said.

Local media quoted emergency services as saying that at least three people died when the Gloria funicular, one of the capital’s best-known symbols, overturned.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a statement that several people had died and more were injured, without providing further details.

Lisbon’s mayor called it an “unprecedented tragedy.”

Images from the scene showed the yellow funicular car overturned on a steep street, with scores of firefighters and medical personnel at the scene.

The accident happened at 6:15 pm (1715 gmt) local time near Liberty Avenue.

The SIC television channel quoted a person as saying that the funicular hit a building as it sped down the steep street “at full speed.”

“It hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes,” the woman said.

The funicular cars are popular with tourists and locals alike to get up and down Lisbon’s steep streets.