WATCH: Portugal in Mourning as Lisbon Tram Derails, Leaving at Least 15 Dead

Portugal has declared 3 days of official mourning.

The Lisbon trams are a distinguished feature of the capital city of Portugal, used by locals and tourists alike.

But today, the system that has been operating for almost 150 years suffered a major accident.

BBC reported:

“At least 15 people have been killed after Lisbon’s world-famous Gloria Funicular cable railway derailed and hit a building, emergency services say.”

Its’s been reported that at least eighteen others have been injured, including a child.

The cause of the derailing is not known – but witnesses say they saw the carriage ‘out of control, without brakes’. Some of those killed were foreign nationals, authorities say.

“The railway, which opened in the 19th Century, connects Lisbon’s downtown with the upper quarter, and is popular with tourists.

[…] In the last hour or so, the ambulances have stopped arriving, and the people who were trapped inside the carriage of the funicular have been brought out.”

The working theory in the investigation, so far, is that something went wrong with the braking system, involving the cable that runs under the surface of the steep road.

“These funicular cabs move by gripping onto the cable – so if anything happened to that cable, it would be a very serious situation.”

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