Overview

• Portugal’s accident agency said the connecting cable between the Gloria funicular’s two carriages failed, triggering an uncontrolled downhill run.
• The brakeman activated both pneumatic and manual brakes, but the carriage accelerated to about 60 km/h and crashed in under 50 seconds.
• Investigators reported a scheduled visual check that morning could not see the break point without dismantling, and the cable was still within its 600‑day service life with roughly 263 days remaining.
• Authorities confirmed 16 deaths, including three British nationals, and more than 20 injuries, with victims from Portugal, the UK, South Korea, Canada, the US, France, Switzerland and Ukraine.
• Funicular operations in Lisbon are suspended and a national day of mourning was declared, as criminal and technical inquiries proceed with a fuller preliminary report expected within 45 days.