Streetcar in Lisbon derails, killing 15 folks and injuring 18

[ad_1] LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A picturesque electric streetcar that's considered one of Lisbon’s huge vacationer sights derailed and crashed Wednesday, killing 15 folks and injuring 18 others, emergency companies mentioned.

5 of the injured had been in severe situation and a baby was among the many injured, the Nationwide Institute for Medical Emergencies mentioned in an announcement. An unknown variety of foreigners had been among the many injured, it mentioned.

Authorities referred to as it an accident, the worst within the metropolis’s latest historical past, and it forged a pall over Lisbon’s allure for the millions of foreign tourists who arrive yearly.

Members of the judicial police work on the web site of a derailed electrical streetcar in Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Picture/Armando Franca)

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The yellow-and-white streetcar, which is named Elevador da Gloria and goes up and down a steep downtown hill in tandem with one going the other method, was mendacity on its aspect on the slim highway that it travels alongside.

Its sides and prime had been crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed right into a constructing the place the highway bends. Components of the car, made principally of metallic, had been crushed.

A number of dozen emergency staff had been on the scene however most stood down after about two hours.

Eyewitnesses advised native media that the streetcar careened down the hill, apparently uncontrolled. One witness mentioned the streetcar toppled onto a person on a sidewalk.

Emergency groups work on the web site of a derailed electrical streetcar in Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Picture/Armando Franca)

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Carris, the corporate that operates the streetcar, mentioned scheduled upkeep had been carried out.

Lisbon’s Metropolis Council suspended operations of different streetcars within the metropolis and ordered speedy inspections, native media reported.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa supplied his condolences to affected households, and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas mentioned town was in mourning. “It’s a tragedy of the like we’ve by no means seen,” Moedas mentioned.

Portugal’s authorities introduced {that a} day of nationwide mourning could be noticed on Thursday. “A tragic accident … precipitated the irreparable lack of human life, which left in mourning their households and dismayed the entire nation,” it mentioned in an announcement.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen additionally despatched her condolences. “It's with disappointment that I discovered of the derailment of the well-known Elevador da Gloria,” she wrote in Portuguese on X.

Emergency groups work on the web site of a derailed electrical streetcar in Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Picture/Armando Franca)

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The reason for the accident was not instantly recognized. It reportedly occurred firstly of the night rush hour, round 6 p.m. Emergency officers mentioned all victims had been pulled out of the wreckage in simply over two hours.

An investigation into the causes will start as soon as the rescue operation is over, the federal government mentioned.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that he was “appalled by the horrible accident,” whereas Italian International Minister Antonio Tajani wrote that he had met with the Portuguese international minister and expressed his “solidarity with the victims.”

The U.S. Embassy Lisbon additionally supplied its “deepest condolences to all affected,” in line with a submit on X.

The streetcar, technically referred to as a funicular, is harnessed by metal cables and may carry greater than 40 folks, seated and standing. Additionally it is generally utilized by Lisbon residents. The service up and down just a few hundred meters (yards) of a hill on a curved, traffic-free highway was inaugurated in 1885.

It's categorized as a nationwide monument.

Lisbon hosted round 8.5 million vacationers final yr, and lengthy strains of vacationers usually kind for the transient rides on the favored streetcar.

Emergency groups work on the web site of a derailed electrical streetcar in Lisbon, Portugal, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Picture/Armando Franca)

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