Three British nationals among those who died in Lisbon funicular crash

Three British nationals are among the 16 who died after the iconic Gloria funicular in Lisbon derailed and crashed, authorities have said.

The crash, which also left 22 people injured, happened at around 6pm on Wednesday.

Footage showed one of the railway’s two carriages practically destroyed and emergency workers pulling people out of the wreckage.

Read more: Everything we know about the Lisbon crash

So far, the nationalities of 11 of the people who died have been released by the authorities. They are: five people from Portugal, including four workers at a charity based near the funicular, three from Great Britain, two from Korea, and one person from Switzerland.

The streetcar’s brakeman, Andre Marques, is the only person killed to have been identified so far.

All but one of the victims was declared dead at the scene, with the other dying of their injuries in hospital.

Sky News has contacted the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for further information on the three British victims.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is “deeply saddened” to hear of the British nationals who have died.

“His thoughts are with families and those affected,” they said. “We stand united with Portugal during this time.”

Majority of dead and injured foreign nationals

Among the injured are 12 women, seven men, and a three-year-old child, according to Portugal’s Civil Protection Authority.

Three who suffered injuries are from Portugal, two from Germany, one from Spain, one from Korea, one from Cape Verde, one from Canada, one from Italy, one from France, one from Switzerland, and one from Morocco.

According to CNN Portugal, the two from Germany were the three-year-old child and his mother, who were both pulled from the wreckage.

The Gloria funicular is hugely popular with tourists and classified as a national monument.

Its journey between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood is just 265m (870ft) and three minutes long, but climbs up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.

It was believed to be operating at full capacity as rush hour began in the Portuguese capital on Wednesday evening when the top car hurtled down the hill, left the tracks, and crashed into a building 30m (98ft) from the bottom.

According to the people who were in the lower carriage, a few metres into their ascent, it started going backwards. When they saw the other car speeding towards them, they jumped through the windows to escape.

Preliminary crash report due on Friday

It is not clear what caused the crash.

The Portuguese government office for air and rail accident investigations said it has completed its analysis of the crash site and will release a preliminary report on Friday.

One witness who was in the lower carriage told Sky’s Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkall that the brakes appeared to fail.

Engineer Dave Cooper told Sky News on Thursday that the two carriages may have become detached from one another because of a fault with the cables.

Emergency services and engineers worked throughout the night on Thursday to remove both carriages from the site, while the other two funiculars in the city remained closed until the crash investigation concludes.

A mass was held, attended by Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas, in memory of the victims at a nearby church on Thursday evening.

Lisbon declared three days of municipal mourning, while Portugal observed a national day of grief on Thursday.