Lisbon funicular derailment: 15 dead and 23 injured, this element could explain the tragedy

On social media, Portuguese actor Miguel Costa shared a video of a report in which he met André, the funicular brakeman who died in Wednesday's accident. "André. About two years ago, I had the chance to meet him." He was a "friendly, helpful, and kind brakeman," and described a meeting that was "brief, but one that will remain etched in the memory forever." In the same message, he also offered his condolences to the brakeman's family, friends, and colleagues, as well as to the families of the 14 other victims. "May they find strength in this ordeal. (...) May the injured recover quickly," he added. These comments were reported by Jornal de Noticias .

Jornal de Noticias reveals that the Order of Engineers provided technical support to determine the causes of Wednesday's accident in Lisbon. In a statement, it stated that it "regrets the accident," emphasizing that it had "immediately provided all technical and institutional support to the Lisbon City Council to diagnose the causes of the accident."

"Aware of its responsibility to society, the Order of Engineers will continue to monitor the situation, informing the public and making itself available to participate in the necessary investigations to determine the causes of this regrettable accident and in subsequent preventive measures, with the appropriate contribution of engineering," the statement said.

In Lisbon, the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) has activated an emergency plan and reinforced hospital blood reserves for the victims of the accident. According to Observador , the IPST assures that it is "monitoring hospital blood reserves to ensure they meet needs." So far, the reserves appear to be able to meet demand.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has invited Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas to attend the Council of Ministers meeting this Thursday, September 4, following the tragic accident involving the Glória funicular. The executive meeting is "one of the few items on the agenda that Luís Montenegro has decided to maintain," reports Observador . As a reminder, a national mourning period has been declared for this Thursday. The Portuguese Council of Ministers is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

This Thursday morning, the latest provisional toll still stands at 15 dead and 23 injured. At least five people are in serious condition at Lisbon's São José Hospital, the facility where most of the injured were transferred. The main injuries are "trauma and fractures," reports Portuguese media outlet SIC . On site, the Institute of Forensic Medicine has reinforced its teams to speed up autopsies, which it says will be completed by late morning.

According to information published on the official Carris website, last May, the Glória funicular was temporarily immobilized from the 4th to the 7th of the same month, "due to maintenance work." It also underwent at least two other interventions: regular maintenance in 2022 and a temporary repair in 2024.

Meanwhile, according to an article in the online newspaper Eco , the tender opened last April for a new maintenance contract "was canceled this month due to the price," reports Diario de Noticias . The estimated amount was €1.9 million excluding taxes, double the current value, for 36 months, but no company submitted a bid corresponding to this base price. "The contract with MNTC ended on August 31 and a new company was reportedly hired by direct agreement as of September 1," we learn, according to information from SIC .

"The funicular accident in Lisbon is terrible. We assure our Portuguese friends of our solidarity and support. The Portuguese authorities have already informed us that one of our compatriots was among those injured in the accident," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Le Parisien this Thursday morning. Her condition remains unknown. "Our consul general is visiting her bedside and remains in constant contact with the Portuguese authorities in case other nationals are affected," the Quai d'Orsay said.

END OF LIVE - This isn't the first time a Gloria funicular has derailed in Lisbon, as Le Figaro points out - but it is the first time it's caused a tragedy of this magnitude. On May 7, 2018, the funicular had already derailed, without causing any casualties, due to a "serious lack of maintenance," the daily newspaper Publico revealed. The device ended up on the cobblestones after coming off the rails. Funicular traffic was interrupted for more than a month following this accident.

Following the Lisbon funicular accident, which claimed the lives of at least fifteen people, the question of the maintenance of the system has arisen. Pedro Bogas, chairman of the board of directors of Carris, which operates the funicular, acknowledged that maintenance of the famous transport's carriages had been carried out by an external service provider for 14 years. However, the company assures that "the monthly, weekly maintenance, and daily inspection schedules have been scrupulously adhered to." The system's last general inspection, carried out every four years, was carried out in 2022.

Lisbon's Gloria funicular derailed, killing at least fifteen people and injuring around 18, five of them seriously. The victims of the accident were believed to be of several nationalities, according to emergency services, without specifying which ones. The funicular has become a popular tourist attraction.

Lisbon City Hall has declared three days of municipal mourning after the Gloria funicular derailed and crashed violently into a building, killing at least 15 people.

"All maintenance protocols were carried out and respected, namely the general maintenance that takes place every four years and which took place in 2022, the intermediate repair that is carried out every two years, in this case the last one was carried out in 2024, and the monthly, weekly maintenance programs and the daily inspection were scrupulously followed," assured the Carris company, which operates the Gloria funicular in Lisbon, in a statement. The company said it is launching an investigation "in collaboration with the authorities to determine the real causes of this accident."

Following the Lisbon cable car accident that killed at least 15 people, the Portuguese government has declared a national day of mourning, according to Observador. It will take place on Thursday, September 4, the day after the tragedy.

Lisbon's Gloria funicular, inaugurated in 1885, has a total capacity of 42 passengers. An iconic means of transport in the Portuguese capital, it had become a tourist attraction. It connects Rossio Square with the Bairro Alto and Principe Real districts. The carriage derailed shortly after 6 p.m.

Portuguese media outlet Observador revealed that employees of Carris, which operates the Lisbon funicular that derailed, had reported problems with the tension cable, which was causing braking difficulties. They criticized the maintenance of the device, which was carried out by a private company.