Tragedy Strikes Lisbon: Funicular Crash Claims 16 Lives, Boy, 3, Among Survivors

Sat Sep 13 2025 09:22:44 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A devastating funicular crash in Lisbon has resulted in 16 fatalities, with a three-year-old German boy miraculously surviving. The catastrophe has sent shockwaves through the community as investigations into the cause unfold.

In a tragic incident that shook Portugal, a funicular crash in Lisbon led to the death of 16 individuals, with a remarkable survivor being a three-year-old boy. Various nationalities were affected, including citizens from Canada, South Korea, and the US, as the community mourns and calls for thorough investigations to ensure safety in public transport. The city's funicular systems remain under scrutiny as authorities strive to prevent future tragedies.

There is a palpable sense of shock on the faces of people looking at the wreckage of a funicular crash in the Portuguese capital where 16 people died - but a three-year-old German boy was among the survivors.

He was pulled from the carriage, and his mother was among more than 20 other people who were injured.

Nationals of Portugal, South Korea, Switzerland, Canada, France, Britain, Ukraine, and the US are among the dead, police say. A German citizen who was reported to have died in the incident was later found alive in hospital, police have confirmed.

It is still unclear what caused the crash. The capital's public transport operator, Carris, said all funiculars would be inspected and that it had launched an independent investigation.

Portugal's political elite turned up at the Church of St Dominic on Thursday night for a service held in honour of those killed. Outside the church, people called for a thorough investigation into what happened. We need people to know they're safe here, one woman said as others nodded.

One local resident told the BBC she was still processing what had happened as she walked past the site of the crash, where the wreckage of the funicular that had derailed and crashed into a building lay on the ground. It's very, very sad, she said.

Tour guide Mariana Figueiredo was among those at the scene of the crash on Wednesday evening. She said she had been traumatised by what she had witnessed. People started to jump from the windows inside the funicular at the bottom of the hill. Then I saw another one that was already crushed.

I started to climb the hill to help the people but when I got there the only thing I could hear was silence.

Ms Figueiredo said that when she and others started to pull the roof off of the funicular, they saw dead bodies inside. She tried to help people with broken bones and to calm those in distress.

A man, who was on another funicular at the bottom of the hill at the time of the crash, told reporters that he thought he was going to die. No matter how many more years I live, I'll never take the funicular again, he said.

Police have not officially named any of the dead or injured, but said at a news conference on Thursday that they believed two Canadians and one Ukrainian national were thought to be among those who perished.

Additionally, the Portuguese transport union confirmed that funicular brake guard André Jorge Gonçalves Marques was among those killed. Charity Santa Casa da Misericórdia, whose employees used the funicular for their work commute, confirmed that four of their workers were also among the victims.

On Thursday, the head of Lisbon's public transport operator, Carris, announced that all funiculars in the city would be closed until technical inspections had been carried out. The investigations will seek to determine the exact cause of this tragic accident.