Shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, a car on the famous Gloria funicular in the Portuguese capital derailed and crashed into a building. Several people were killed and seriously injured in the accident. As authorities investigate what may have led to the tragedy, more and more eyewitness accounts are coming in.

Our reader, who also sent in pictures from Lisbon, visited the scene on Wednesday evening at 6:45 p.m. He wrote that the cable car that had the accident was traveling so fast that it plowed through the cobblestones and practically shrank in half due to the impact.

The city was paralyzed, sirens could be heard everywhere. Today, order has been restored, but only at the scene of the accident can you feel that something has happened. Many journalists and curious people are trying to find out more about the accident.

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While earlier figures had said seventeen people had died in the accident, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro informed the public on Thursday that sixteen had actually died. The error may have been caused by one of the victims being recorded twice at one hospital.

The incident has prompted an investigation by the police, the Portuguese transport safety authority and the Lisbon cable car operator, Carris. The latter said all maintenance and inspections had been carried out on the funicular in accordance with regulations. However, witnesses reported that the brake system of the car involved had failed and the vehicle was travelling at high speed down the steep street without braking.