Shocking video shows the chaos in Lisbon just moments after the city's iconic Gloria Funicular came off the tracks, leaving 15 people dead and 23 injured. The disaster unfolded on Wednesday around 6 pm, when a cable snapped on the railway line and sent the funicular speeding uncontrollably down the steep hill before crashing into a building.
Heart-stopping video shows locals navigating through thick clouds of dust toward the mangled tram, desperately trying to reach survivors. Amid the chaos, a person can be heard crying out, "There are kids under the tram!" as the terrified screams of children believed to be trapped beneath the wreckage echo through the scene.
Chaos After Crash
Other videos from the scene show rescuers working frantically to pull out victims from the twisted wreck of the funicular, which normally ferries passengers up and down one of Lisbon's steep hills. In a striking image, firefighters can be seen carrying a seriously injured passenger on a stretcher while shocked onlookers watch in silence.
Police in Portugal have since confirmed that at least 15 people were killed, a lot higher than the initial reports of three. The country's emergency services also revealed that several tourists are among the dead.
Brazilian tourist Marta Assunçao said she narrowly avoided being on the tram that crashed, saying that a simple change of plans could have put her in grave danger.
"Someone suggested me to take this tram, I don't know how you call it, but I was very tired and I went home, and then I started hearing the noise of the sirens and realized what had happened, this sadness," she told reporters.
Witnesses added that the funicular slammed into a hotel, with the force of the crash knocking several victims unconscious.
One said: "The police took less than five minutes to arrive and told us to get back and the first ambulances started arriving five minutes later.
"One of the victims I saw was cut all over the place and covered in blood. A lot of people appeared to be unconscious."
The car sitting at the bottom of the track appeared to escape serious damage, but bystander footage aired on CNN Portugal showed it shaking violently when the other car came off the rails — sending passengers scrambling out of the windows as shouts filled the air.
Survivors Still in Shock
Witness Teresa d'Avo told Portuguese channel SIC: "It crashed into a building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box. It crashed with tremendous force. It didn't have any kind of brakes."
She later told Observador that she had been standing near the Glória elevator with a colleague when "the elevator that was further down, almost parking, suffered a small jolt."
"The people inside were obviously scared, and we rushed to help. Soon after, we saw the elevator upstairs was out of control, without brakes, and we all started running away because we thought it was going to hit the one below.
"But it fell around the bend and crashed into the building," she added.
A spokesperson from Portugal's National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) said that out of the 23 people injured in the crash, five are in serious condition, while 13 suffered minor injuries.
Tiago Augusto, who leads INEM's Event Planning, State Protocol, and Crisis Management Unit, confirmed that everyone trapped inside the wrecked funicular has now been pulled out.
Among the injured is a three-year-old German child, who thankfully is not in a serious state. However, the child's pregnant mother is fighting for her life in critical condition, according to Observador.
