Police say two Canadians are among the 16 dead in Lisbon after a funicular derailed in the Portuguese capital on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports.
The dead also included five Portuguese nationals, three British citizens, two South Koreans, one American, one French, one Swiss and one Ukrainian, police said in a statement.
The list of nationalities was published following forensic identification. The French Foreign Ministry said Friday that a woman who was a French-Canadian dual citizen is among the dead.
“I am saddened to confirm that two Canadians have been confirmed to be among those who died in the Lisbon streetcar crash,” Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X. “Canada extends our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones as well as to all of those affected by this tragedy. Global Affairs Canada is providing consular services to the families of the Canadian victims to help them during this difficult time.”
The Portuguese government’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations said that it has concluded its analysis of the wreckage and would issue a preliminary technical report on Friday. It wasn’t clear how revealing the report would be.
The nationalities appeared to confirm suspicions that the Elevador da Gloria was packed with tourists as well as locals when it came off its rails during the evening rush hour on Wednesday.
Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and long lines of people typically form for the funicular’s short and picturesque trip a few hundred meters up and down a city street.
Steel cables harness the electric funicular and can carry more than 40 people. On Thursday, officials took photographs and pulled up cable from beneath the rails that climb one of the Portuguese capital’s steep hills.
Officials declined to comment on whether a faulty brake or a snapped cable may have prompted the descending funicular to careen into a building where the steep road bends.
With files from The Associated Press
