At least 15 people were killed and more than a dozen were injured in a crash of the popular funicular railway in Lisbon on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro expressed condolences for the victims in a statement and said that an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident.
The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, announced three days of mourning “for the victims of the tragic accident” in a post on X.
Emergency teams work at the site of a derailed electric streetcar in Lisbon on Sept. 3, 2025. Armando Franca / AP
One video posted on social media and verified by NBC News showed a yellow funicular car laying on its side amidst scattered debris with the roof cracked open. A separate video verified by NBC News showed people searching through the twisted metal of the wreckage.
The funicular that crashed, the Elevador de Gloria, runs between the Baixa and Bairro Alto neighborhoods in Lisbon, according to a site run by the Lisbon Tourism Association. There are two other funicular railways in the city.