Fifteen people have been reported dead this evening after the iconic Lisbon ‘elevador da Glória’ – a funicular railway popular with tourists – derailed and crashed heavily into a building “breaking up like a cardboard box”.

There are thought to be at least another 15 injured, some critical (see update below).

Footage from the site shows the tram-like funicular, which carries people up and down a hillside in the centre of the capital, completely destroyed.

The accident happened at around 6.15 this evening, and it is being reported that it was caused by a cable ‘coming loose’.

The mayor of the city was quickly on the scene, with scores of emergency personnel.

President Marcelo “profoundly lamented” the tragedy within a short time of its happening, expressing his sorrow and solidarity with the families affected, and stressing that he hopes the causes “are swiftly clarified by the competent authorities”.

Reporting from the scene, SIC Notícias added that it knows that the funicular was “submitted to a general repair in 2022, and an intermediate one in 2024, all within defined protocols for periodic maintenance”.

Talking to the news station, Fernando Nunes da Silva, a specialist in engineering and formerly a member of Lisbon City Council, suggested that what may have happened is that a traction cable snapped – which would cause the funicular to lose control.

“From what we can see in the images, it is most likely that a traction cable broke, and when it broke, the brakes that should normally work in a situation like this did not work,” he said early on this evening.

This incredibly popular tourist attraction can take up to 43 passengers at a time, and connects Praça dos Restauradoes to Príncipe Real in the very heart of Lisbon.

With such a confused picture in the first few hours, SIC reported that the number of dead could increase (which it has since we started our own reporting). It is clear that some of the victims will be (or were) tourists as there are “foreign surnames on the list”, says SIC.

INEM has since confirmed that the victims are made up of Portuguese and foreigners; one of the dead was the Portuguese ‘brake guard’, named as André.

It is now confirmed that there are 18 injured, five of whom are seriously injured, 13 lightly injured. Among the lightly injured is a three-year -old child and his pregnant mother.

One of the injured has been described as a South Korean woman.

Mayor Moedas has cancelled his agenda for Thursday and declared three days of mourning for the city.

The government has also declared a day of national mourning.

Avenida da Liberdade – close to which the wrecked funicular came to rest – was closed to traffic from the Rua da Alegria crossroads all the way to Praça do Rossio for some hours.

This is an absolutely devastating accident for the city.

Political figures were the first to express shock, sadness and a degree of disbelief. It seems surreal that an accident as brutal as this could have happened in the capital.

Witnesses have been describing the noise alerting them to the crash, and then the horror of seeing the result.

One woman described seeing the funicular crash into the building it hit “breaking up like a cardboard box”.

A young man who arrived at the scene almost immediately after the crash said police arrived within minutes, and ambulances shortly after. The first passengers to be carried to safety were children, he said, followed by one large bag which he presumes contained one of the bodies.

This is news that has been swiftly reported throughout Europe. European Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen has already sent her condolences to the families of the victims; the President of the European parliament Roberta Metsola has also reacted, sending solidarity in an emotional post over social media.

Here, AMT (the authority for mobility and transport) has said it hopes to bring the results of its investigation into what caused this disaster “as quickly as possible”. Carris (the company operating Lisbon’s public transports) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have also announced the opening of their own inquiries.

A lot more will come in the following hours, particularly regarding the identities of the victims.

Injured survivors are being transported to the Lisbon hospitals of São José, Santa Maria and São Francisco de Xavier, while medical personnel is travelling to Lisbon to ensure all the autopsies will be carried out during the night.

President Marcelo has announced that he has cancelled the Lisbon Book Fair, which was to have started tomorrow.

CARRIS WORKERS HAVE PRESENTED “SUCCESSIVE COMPLAINTS ABOUT MAINTENANCE

As the reporting develops, Manuel Leal – a syndicate leader for FECTRANS (the transports federation) and STRUP (passenger bus operators) – has told SIC that workers of Carris have “presented successive complaints” about the need for maintenance of the city’s funiculars, including the Glória funicular.

“The syndicate is calling for a rigorous inquiry into the causes of this accident, and defends that maintenance should be returned to Carris workers, instead of (given, as it has been) to outside companies”, writes SIC.

Leal explained that workers have been reporting “differences in terms of maintenance that was carried out by Carris workers a few years ago, and the maintenance that is carried out today”. He cited “successive complaints (…) regarding the tension level of the cables supporting these funiculars”.

Picking up on this point, Commander António Rodrigues, an investigator with the country’s Civil Protection Authority has said all equipment like the Glória funicular should be ‘temporarily immobilised’ while inspections are carried out to ensure nothing like this happens anywhere else in the city.

PJ POLICE ACTION HOMICIDE SQUAD

SIC understands that the PJ Judicial Police has called in the homicide squad and forensic laboratory technicians specialising in DNA, criminalistics, mass disasters and mechanics.

As extraordinary as this sounds, the funicular dates back to 1885.

Expresso has carried the testimony of Jorge Dionísio, 68, who travelled on the cable-tram regularly, over decades. He told them: “I don’t mean to be unjust to anyone, but the last times I travelled, I was afraid (…) the senstation I had was that there was a lot of wear and tear on the rails, particularly on the bends…” He said that he “felt every bump, particularly passing over the dilation joints”.

Tomorrow will bring more details, particularly with regard to the fatalities, and the survivors.