16 Dead as Witnesses Share Harrowing Experiences After Portugal Tram Derails

At least 16 people are dead and more than 20 people are injured as survivors and witnesses of the funicular streetcar crash in Lisbon, Portugal, recall one of the deadliest incidents in the country’s modern-day history.

On Wednesday, Sept. 4, tourists and locals were enjoying a late-summer afternoon when the popular Elevador da Gloria funicular, a historic system of railway trams, saw one of its streetcars derail and smash into a building. 

One woman, Rasha Abdo, was in a second tram with her husband and child further down the hill when they began to accelerate, ABC News reported.

“It was blurry, full of dust. We couldn’t see anything,” said Abdo, who quickly secured her son after their car stopped, according to the outlet.

“I asked my husband, who is a doctor, ‘Please go up to see if you can rescue someone,’ ” she recalled to ABC News. “It was too late.” 

Another witness, Teresa d’Avó, spoke to Portuguese outlet Sic Notícias. She said the streetcar that crashed “hit the building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box.”

Portugal’s national emergency service, INEM, received reports of the fatal incident at 6:04 p.m. local time and arrived at the scene with emergency responders from multiple agencies, according to a statement on Facebook. 

A nearby tour guide, Marianna Figueiredo, was on the scene within “five seconds” to help, she told the BBC. 

Rushing by people jumping from the windows of the second tram at the base of the hill, she thought the “crushed” streetcar may be empty.

“I started to climb the hill to help the people but when I got there the only thing I could hear was silence,” Figueiredo told the BBC. When the roof was pulled off, she “started to see the dead bodies,” according to the outlet. 

Officials confirmed that 16 people died and more than 20 people were injured, including international tourists, The New York Times, the BBC and Reuters reported. A 3-year-old child was also hurt, according to the Times.

In a statement on Facebook, the Portuguese transport workers’ union announced that the driver of the tram, André Jorge Gonçalves Marques, had died. 

“This is one of the biggest human tragedies of our recent history,” Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said, according to the BBC. 

The cause of the accident has not yet been officially determined. Investigating agencies told Portuguese news agency Lusa that preliminary findings will be announced on Friday, Sept. 5, according to the BBC.

“The Aircraft and Railway Accident Prevention and Investigation Office (GPIAAF), together with the Judicial Police and the Authority for Working Conditions, has completed collecting evidence at the scene,” a spokesperson for the agency said, adding that a note will be released “outlining the initial findings and the direction the investigation will take.” 

Lisbon is renowned for its system of vintage streetcars, which provide a comfortable view of the city without requiring passengers to climb its steep hills. Elevador da Glória is one of three lifts in the city, all of which were designed by Raoul Mesnier de Ponsard, according to a Lisbon tourism website.

Elevador da Glória first opened in 1885 and connects Restauradores Square with a popular street in the Bairro Alto district. Each of the two trams can carry about 40 people at a time, according to the Times. Following the crash, all of Lisbon’s funiculars have been closed as the investigation continues. 

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Carris, the state capital’s public transportation company, confirmed that all maintenance protocols had been followed, including weekly and daily inspections. The organization has opened an investigation into the deadly incident, according to the outlet. 

On Thursday, Sept. 4, the Portuguese government declared a day of national mourning.

“A tragic accident involving the Glória Funicular in the municipality of Lisbon on September 3, 2025, caused the irreparable loss of human lives, leaving their families in mourning and the country in shock,” the government said in a translated statement. “The Government decides to declare a day of national mourning as an expression of condolence and solidarity of the Portuguese people.”