BBC:
Portugal is in shock after 15 people lost their lives in the derailment of the 140-year-old Gloria funicular, a major tourist attraction in the capital Lisbon.
Another 18 people were taken to hospital, five of them in a serious condition, according to the emergency services.
Foreign nationals were among those killed in the crash, which took place around 18:05, although nationalities could not be confirmed, authorities said.
Lisbon’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, paid a visit to the hospital on Wednesday night. Calling it a “tragic moment for the city”. Portugal’s government, which will host the mayor at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, has declared a day of national mourning.
The country’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his “sympathy and solidarity with the families affected by this tragedy”.
Police and other emergency workers spent many hours on the scene, as the various investigations into the incident – by the company that runs the funicular, by the national transport safety authority, and by the criminal police – got underway.
