The death toll in the Lisbon streetcar crash has risen to 17, an emergency services official said Thursday.
Two of the injured died overnight in a hospital, Margarida Castro Martins, head of Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency, told reporters. She did not provide the names or nationalities of the dead, saying that their families would be informed first.
Another 21 people were injured in Wednesday’s crash, including multiple foreigners who were on the streetcar popular with tourists, she said.
Authorities have labeled the incident as an accident, marking the worst such event in the city’s recent history, and it has cast a shadow over the city’s appeal for tourists. At present, the cause of the crash remains unclear, reports AP/UNB.
The accident took place with the iconic yellow-and-white streetcar, known as Elevador da Gloria, a funicular that travels up a steep hill in downtown Lisbon.
The vehicle was left lying on its side, crumpled after it crashed into a building when it careened out of control, with its mostly metal parts crushed. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the streetcar descending the hill at high speed before it toppled onto a pedestrian.
Carris, the company that operates the Elevador da Gloria, confirmed that the streetcar had undergone scheduled maintenance prior to the crash. It expressed deepest condolences to the families of those affected and vowed to cooperate fully with the investigation into the cause of the incident.
In response to the tragedy, the Lisbon City Council suspended all streetcar services in the city and ordered immediate safety inspections, according to local media.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa extended his sympathies to the victims’ families, and Portugal’s government declared Thursday as a national day-of-mourning. “A tragic accident … caused the irreparable loss of human life, which left in mourning their families and dismayed the whole country,” the government’s statement said.
The crash occurred just as the evening rush hour began, around 6 pm. All victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours, according to emergency officials. The investigation into the cause of the incident will begin after the completion of the rescue effort.
The Elevador da Gloria, classified as a national monument, has been serving Lisbon residents and tourists alike since 1885. It carries more than 40 passengers along a few hundred metres, traffic-free route up a hill.
