Overview

• Portugal’s GPIAAF says the Glória funicular’s cars had moved about six metres when the connecting cable failed, removing the balancing force between them.
• The brakeman engaged pneumatic and manual brakes but speed did not drop, with the runaway car reaching roughly 60 km/h and crashing in under 50 seconds.
• Evidence reviewed so far indicates maintenance was up to date and the failed cable was within its 600‑day service life, having been used for 337 days.
• A scheduled inspection that morning detected no anomalies because the failure point was not accessible without dismantling, the report notes.
• Authorities report 16 dead and 21 injured, with victims of multiple nationalities; British victims Kayleigh Smith and Will Nelson were named, and a fuller preliminary report is due within 45 days alongside a separate prosecutors’ inquiry.