A cable involved in the fatal Lisbon funicular crash in September was never certified for passenger use and did not meet the operator’s required standards, according to preliminary findings from investigators, as reported by CNN Portugal.
At least 16 people lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when a steel cable linking the two cars of the historic Glória funicular snapped, the initial report revealed.
The incident occurred shortly after the funicular began its journey along Calçada da Glória, a steep and narrow street in Lisbon’s city center.
Witnesses described the horrifying scene as one of the cars derailed and sped uncontrollably down the track before slamming into a nearby building.
One witness, identified only as Bruno, told CNN Portugal that the funicular car was “completely out of control.”
“It looked like a toy being thrown from one side of the Glória pavement to the other. I heard screams and then, suddenly, a loud bang,” he recalled. “You couldn’t hear people anymore and a cloud of brown smoke appeared.”
According to the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Accidents in Civil Aviation and Rail, the interim report identified “serious failures in the cable, maintenance and brakes,” CNN Portugal reported Monday.
The findings further indicated that the cable used did not meet the specifications required by CARRIS, the funicular’s operating company. Investigators also discovered that some maintenance activities were logged as completed even when they had not been carried out, while the maintenance plan itself was marked as “compliant and accepted” by the operator.
GPIAAF emphasized that the findings are still preliminary and subject to change, noting that a comprehensive final report on the tragic crash will be published next year.
