🔗 Share this article

This deadly cable car crash in Portugal's capital that claimed sixteen people in the beginning of September was attributed to a defective cable, as stated by the official probe issued on the start of the week.

The inquiry has advised that the city's equivalent vehicles stay halted until their safety can be fully assured.

Particulars of the Deadly Accident

This crash happened when the old Elevador da Glória left the rails and smashed into a edifice, shocking the city and raising serious worries about the reliability of historic landmarks.

The nation's transport safety authority (the bureau) noted that a wire connecting two compartments had detached shortly before the tragedy on the third of September.

Preliminary Findings

The preliminary analysis stated that the wire did not meet the specified standards established by the city's transit authority.

This wire failed to comply with the standards currently applicable to be employed for the Glória tram.

This comprehensive analysis additionally advised that the remaining inclined railways in Lisbon must remain non-operational until inspectors can confirm they have sufficient stopping mechanisms capable of immobilising the vehicles in the case of a line snap.

Victims and Casualties

Among the sixteen victims, eleven were foreign nationals, including 3 British citizens, 2 South Koreans, 2 citizens of Canada, one Frenchwoman, a Swiss, one American, and one citizen of Ukraine.

This accident also injured around twenty persons, comprising 3 Britons.

The national fatalities comprised four workers from the equivalent care facility, whose premises are located at the top of the sheer alley serviced by the cable car.

Operational Details

This Glória funicular began operation in 1885, using a system of counterweights to move its 2 compartments along its 870-foot track climbing and descending a steep slope.

As per investigators, a regular examination on the date of the accident identified no anomalies with the cable that eventually broke.

The investigators also reported that the driver had engaged the vehicle's stopping mechanism, but they were incapable to halt the car without the assistance of the balancing mechanism.

This entire event transpired in just less than a minute, per the probe.

Upcoming Measures

This bureau is expected to publish a final report with operational recommendations within the next year, though an preliminary update may deliver more information on the development of the probe.