His father was killed in the accident and his mother was injured, along with numerous other foreign nationals.

The cause of the accident is still unknown. The city's public transport company Karis has announced an inspection of all cable cars and the launch of an independent investigation. The case is being investigated by the police and the prosecutor's office.

Shock and disbelief on the streets of Lisbon

One resident told the BBC she was still trying to make sense of what happened as she walked past the shattered remains of the cable car that derailed and crashed into the building.

"It's very, very sad," she said.

Others gathered in silence or took photos of the scene. Two tourists from Singapore said they were supposed to ride the cable car on Wednesday but changed their plans at the last minute.

"It's scary... Who knows, maybe we could have been inside," said one of them.

"These things change your perspective on life. You just don't expect something like this to happen."

"People started jumping out the windows"

Tour guide Mariana Figueiredo was among the first to arrive at the crash site and said she was traumatized by what she saw.

She heard a loud bang and immediately ran towards the scene.

"I was there in five seconds," she said.

"People started jumping out of the windows of the lower cable car. Then I saw another one, the one that had been crushed, a little further up the hill. I started to climb up to help, but when I got there, there was only silence."

Figueiredo described how, after she and others began removing the roof of the vehicle, they saw the bodies inside. She witnessed the rescue of children and tried to help the injured and calm those in shock.

"A lot of people were crying around me. They were very scared."

The man, who was in the second funicular at the bottom of the hill at the time of the accident, told reporters that he thought he was going to die.

"No matter how many years I live, I will never climb the funicular again," he said.

Identification of the victims and the reaction of the authorities The police have not yet officially announced the names of the dead and injured, but the press conference confirmed that two Canadians, one German and one Ukrainian are believed to be among the dead.

It was previously reported that five Portuguese, two South Koreans and one Swiss citizen had also been identified. The Portuguese transport union confirmed that among the dead was Andre Jorge Gonsalves Marques, a brakeman on the funicular.

The charity Santa Casa da Misericordia, whose employees used the funicular to commute to work, said four of its employees died in the accident.

One of the employees, Valdemar Bastos, told the BBC that the organization's staff at the top of the hill often use the funicular together with tourists.

"I always felt safe," he said.

"I never thought something like this could happen."

On Thursday, the head of Lisbon's public transport company Caris said that all the city's funiculars will be closed until technical inspections are completed. He said the Gloria line would reopen in the future with a new carriage, but added that maintenance costs had doubled in the past 10 years.

The results of the investigation will be published soon, he said, but did not specify when. Funiculars are a key part of transportation on Lisbon's steep, cobbled streets and a popular tourist attraction. The Gloria line, where the accident happened, was opened in 1885.