Deadly Portugal funicular crash likely due to problems with cable • FRANCE 24 English

Tributes continue to pour in at the site of Wednesday’s deadly finicular crash here in Lisbon. Accident inspectors are now looking into the incident. On Saturday, Portugal’s National Transport Safety Office stated that a cable linking two cabins disconnected not long after it passed a visual check. According to the evidence observed so far, the scheduled maintenance plan was up to date and a scheduled visual inspection had been conducted on the morning of the accident, which detected no anomalies in the vehicle’s cable or braking systems. According to the bureau, the brakeman had tried to activate emergency brakes, but it’s unclear whether another automatic brake came on as it was meant to. The bureau will release a preliminary report within 45 days. A separate investigation is being carried out by the prosecutor’s office. The head of Lisbon’s public transport operator has defended the equipment maintenance policy in the wake of the crash, which saw the upper carriage of a finicular railway hurdle into the side of a building. The incidents claimed 16 lives, including 11 foreign nationals. For their loved ones, the past few days have been devastating. I’ve been up and down crying and not crying. So my two nieces are shattered of course. Uh imagine you lose your two parents in one shot bang like that. So uh it’s it’s very very difficult because I was very close to my brother. He was my idol. A popular tourist attraction and mode of transport for residents. The 140year-old finicular is built to travel up and down Lisbon’s steep slopes. According to local media, the number of passengers using the three finiculars managed by Lisbon’s public transport operator increased by 53% between 2022 and 2024.

Problems with a cable likely caused a Lisbon funicular railway popular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16 people and injuring another 22 when it crashed into a building, according to a preliminary report. Story by Charlotte Hughes.
#Portugal #funicular #crash

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8 comments

  1. Unfortunately the safety aspects were faulty or, and, inadequate. Where lives are concerned you cant have enough concern when it comes to emergencies. Something was amiss.

  5. Chill out people, it worked fine for 140 years. Things happen sometimes, how many drunk drivers crashed the same day in your city?

  6. 😎😎😎 AS PORTUGUESE, I KEEP WONDERING WHO CUT THE CABLE AND THE BRAKES. THERE IS NO DOUBT FOR ME THAT THIS IS SABOTAGE AND TERRORISM TO PUSH THE TOURISTS TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE SHOWING BY THE WAY THAT IN PORTUGAL THERE IS AS MUCH INSECURITY AS IN THE OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
    I THINK THAT OUR ANTIQUE JEWELLERY IS NO PROBLEM TO THE SAME EXTENT AS THE EIFFEL TOUR WHICH DATES FROM 1889.

  7. Likely due to major public negligence, as usual in Portugal; no public accountability, everything done at the moment, the easier path, major incompetence on executive public positions because people are chosen politically not on merit.

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