LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The derailment of a streetcar that is a popular tourist attraction in Portugal’s capital killed 16 people and injured 21 others, emergency services said. At least half the victims were foreigners.
Officials called the accident one of Lisbon’s worst tragedies in recent memory.
Here’s what to know:
Investigations underway and wreckage removed
Official details about the crash in downtown Lisbon were still scant Friday morning, but details were beginning to emerge about those killed in the accident. The first investigative report examining what caused the popular Lisbon tourist attraction to crash was expected to be released Friday.
Multiple agencies are investigating what Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described as “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past.”
The government’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations said it would issue a preliminary technical report Friday. Chief police investigator Nelson Oliveira said a preliminary police report with a broader scope is expected within 45 days.
The streetcar’s wreckage was removed from the scene overnight and placed in police custody.
Witnesses told local media that the streetcar appeared out of control as it careened down a hill at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday during the evening rush hour. One witness said that the streetcar toppled onto a man on a sidewalk.
The sides and top of the yellow-and-white streetcar, known as Elevador da Gloria, were crumpled and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends.
Many foreigners among the dead
Portugal’s attorney general’s office said eight victims have been identified so far: five Portuguese, two South Koreans and a Swiss person.
There is “a high possibility” that the victims also include two Canadians, one American, one German and one Ukrainian, according to the head of the national investigative police, Luís Neves. Three remain to be identified.
A woman who was a French-Canadian dual citizen is among the dead, the French Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Spaniards, Israelis, Portuguese, Brazilians, Italians and French people were injured, Portugal’s National Health Service said. Five remained in serious condition.
National grieving
Hundreds of people attended a somber Mass on Thursday evening at Lisbon’s majestic Church of Saint Dominic.
Montenegro, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas were among the attendees.
Lisbon was observing three days of mourning.
140 years of service
The streetcar, technically called a funicular, is harnessed by steel cables, with the descending car helping with its weight to pull up the other one. It can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing. The service, up and down a hill on a curved, traffic-free road, was inaugurated in 1885.
It’s classified as a national monument.
