Cable broke on Lisbon funicular before crash

A cable linking two carriages snapped shortly before the funicular crash in Lisbon that killed 16 people, according to a preliminary report.

- Nadeem Badshah

A scheduled visual inspection was carried out on the morning of last Wednesday's accident but the area where the cable broke was "not visible without dismantling" and the rest of the mechanism was functioning properly, investigators said.

An operator tried to apply emergency brakes but was unable to prevent the derailment.

The findings were published at the weekend by GPIAAF, Portugal's air and rail accident investigation bureau. At least 20 other people were injured in the incident, with five still in a critical condition.

According to the initial findings, the Elevador da Glória crashed into a building at 37mph and the incident was over in 50 seconds.

The report said the carriages had travelled no more than 6 metres (20ft) when they "suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable".