Fatal funicular accident in Lisbon

As Portugal observes a day of national mourning this Thursday in the wake of the derailment of an iconic Lisbon funicular that left at least 17 dead and 21 injured in one of Lisbon's ultra-touristy districts, a photo taken moments after the dramatic accident is shocking Internet users.

The accident, which occurred late on Wednesday, also left 21 people injured, including at least 11 foreigners, she added. They included two Germans, two Spaniards, a Frenchwoman, an Italian, a Swiss, a Canadian, a Korean, a Moroccan and a Cape Verdean.

Among those who can count themselves lucky to be alive is Peter Soenen, a 50-year-old resident of Ypres. He and a friend were on vacation in the Portuguese capital: “The accident happened just a few hundred meters from our hotel”, he explained.

As a reminder, the accident occurred at 6.05pm (local time) near Avenue de la Liberté. A witness to the accident told SIC that he saw the funicular travelling “at full speed” down the steep slope where it runs daily, before colliding with a building. “It hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box, it had no brakes,” the woman recounted.