Portuguese officials focused Thursday on establishing the causes of the crash of a Lisbon streetcar popular with tourists that killed 16 people and injured 21, five of them seriously.
“The city needs answers,” Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said in a televised statement about Wednesday’s derailment, as the country observed a national day of mourning.
Police, public prosecutors and government transport experts are investigating the causes, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said, standing next to the mayor. The company that operates the streetcar service, Carris, said that it has also opened its own investigation.
The mayor said he would also ask for an investigation from an outside independent body.
Vehicle’s brakeman among the dead
Carris had earlier said that the vehicle’s scheduled maintenance had been carried out, while offering its condolences to the victims and their families.
The dead were all adults, Margarida Castro Martins, head of Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency, told reporters. She didn’t provide their names or nationalities, saying that their families would be informed first.
The agency said earlier Thursday that the death toll had risen to 17. In adjusting the toll downward, the agency attributed the discrepancy to a duplication of available information.
Though authorities gave no details about those killed, the transport workers’ trade union SITRA said that the streetcar’s brakeman, Andre Marques, was among the dead.
Another 21 people were injured in Wednesday’s crash, said Martins. They included Portuguese people as well as two Germans, two Spaniards and one person each from France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, South Korea and Cape Verde, she said.
CBC News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for more information. GAC had said late Wednesday it was unaware of any Canadians impacted by the incident.
The range of nationalities reflected how big a draw the renowned streetcar was for tourists who are packing the Portuguese capital during the summer season.
‘Fell apart like a cardboard box’
The Elevador da Gloria goes up and down a steep downtown hill in tandem with one going the opposite way. 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.
“It hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box,” Teresa d’Avó told Portuguese TV channel SIC.
Witnesses told local media that the streetcar careened down a hill, apparently out of control. One witness said it toppled
The crash reportedly occurred at the start of the evening rush hour, around 6 p.m. local time. Emergency officials said all victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours.
The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon’s downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto (Upper Quarter), famous for its vibrant nightlife.
It is one of three funicular lines operated by Carris and is used by tourists and local residents.
The Gloria line transports around three million people annually, according to the town hall.
Its two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, with traction provided by electric motors on the two cars.
