Lisbon funicular crash exposes safety flaws in city's old charm


A view shows the site of the accident after Gloria funicular railway car, a popular tourist attraction, derailed and crashed, resulting in multiple casualties, according to authorities, in Lisbon, Portugal, September 4, 2025. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

LISBON (Reuters) -The death of at least 16 people in an historic cable car that derailed in Lisbon has exposed flaws in the "old charm" image of the Portuguese capital, which is brimming with tourists but runs on quaint but creaking infrastructure.

In Wednesday's crash, railcar left the track at a turn and hit a building just metres from its twin at the bottom of the steep 265-metre slope, leaving a mangled wreckage with bodies trapped inside. The traction cable linking them had snapped.

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