FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has declared today a day of mourning following the fatal accident that occurred last night. Montenegro said he has canceled his schedule for Thursday.
However, he is expected to virtually participate in a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Paris, which will be chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron.
" The government declared a national day of mourning for the tragedy of the Ascensor da Glória in Lisbon. It is a tragic day for our city... Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident," Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said yesterday evening.
At least 15 people were killed when the 140-year-old Gloria funicular derailed and crashed into a building at speed in the Portuguese capital.
Another 18 people were taken to hospital, five of them in a serious condition, according to emergency services who gave an update last night after the incident which happened at around 6.15pm local time.
The head of Lisbon's public transport operator, Carris, visited the scene of the accident late Wednesday, with the company issuing a statement saying that major quadrennial and intermediate maintenance had been carried out on the tram as needed, as well as daily, weekly and monthly checks.
But reports from eyewitnesses suggested that the braking system on the tram failed, leaving it to crash at speed down the steep road into a building.
It is not clear how many people were on board at the time of the tram crash, which occurred near Avenida da Liberdade.
Lini një Përgjigje