Portugal mourns 16 killed in Lisbon funicular crash

LISBON — Portugal held a day of national mourning on Thursday after one of Lisbon's famous funicular trains violently derailed and killed 16 people, including 11 foreigners, and left more than 20 injured.

The distinctive yellow-and-white Elevador da Gloria, which is classified as a national monument, was packed with locals and international tourists on Wednesday evening when it came off its rails.

Multiple agencies are investigating what Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described as "one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past".

"This tragedy … goes beyond our borders," Montenegro said in a televised address on Thursday.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun expressed condolences over the death of the funicular crash.

"We mourn deeply for people who were killed, and offer our sympathy to families who lost their loved ones," Guo said. "We wish for an early recovery of those injured in the accident."

Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and long lines of people typically form for the streetcar's short and picturesque trip a few hundred meters up and down a city street.

Hundreds of people attended a somber Mass on Thursday evening at Lisbon's majestic Church of Saint Dominic. Montenegro, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas were among the stricken attendees, some dressed in black, in the candlelit sanctuary.

The electric streetcar, also known as a funicular, is harnessed by steel cables and can carry more than 40 people. Officials declined to comment on whether a faulty brake or a snapped cable may have prompted the descending streetcar to careen into a building where the steep downtown road bends.

"The city needs answers," the mayor said, adding that talk of possible causes is "mere speculation".

The streetcar's wreckage was removed from the scene overnight and placed in police custody.

After coroners identified more bodies, police on Friday updated the list of fatalities that includes five Portuguese citizens, three British citizens, two South Koreans, two Canadians, and one citizen each from France, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. More than 20 people were injured.

A preliminary report on the accident will take six weeks to complete, according to Portuguese authorities. While they do not rule out any possible cause, police sources told the Publico daily there were no signs of foul play.

The municipal transport company Carris has said "all maintenance protocols have been carried out", including monthly and weekly maintenance and daily inspections, the latest just hours before the incident with no faults detected.

Wang Qingyun in Beijing contributed to this story.

Agencies Via Xinhua