A BRIT mum who witnessed the Lisbon tram disaster described hearing a “horrendous crash” before being warned to stay indoors to avoid seeing the harrowing scenes.
At least 16 people were killed in the catastrophic collision which left passengers trapped under rubble while rescuers scrambled to save them.
GettyA Brit mum told how she heard a loud bang when the Gloria Funicular crashed[/caption]
Sky NewsBrit holidaymaker Felicity Ferriter was told to stay indoors because the scene outside was so awful[/caption]
EPAAuthorities are still probing the crash[/caption]
APPeople look at the streetcar which derailed and crashed in Lisbon[/caption]
Holidaymaker Felicity Ferriter told Sky News she was unpacking in her hotel room when she heard a nightmarish bang.
Her daughter who was in a separate room heard harrowing screams from the site of the smash, before rushing over to her mum.
The group hurried downstairs before being told by someone in their tour party: “Don’t go outside – it’s awful, and there is a deceased person just outside.”
The visibly shaken tourist also said when she was dropped off in Restauradores Square on the morning of the accident, she and her husband spotted the tram before saying: “We’ll be going on that tomorrow morning.”
She detailed the haunting experience and the moments leading up to the tragedy.
“We got into our hotel and up to the room, and as we were unpacking, there was a horrendous crash.
“And my daughter in the next room had her windows open and she heard screaming and came straight in to us.”
She continued: “We went downstairs and a member of our tour party said: ‘Don’t go outside – it’s awful.’”
Distressed onlookers were heard screaming “there’s kids under there” seconds after the cable car packed with tourists derailed and smashed into a building on Wednesday.
Disturbing footage also showed dozens of bystanders sprinting up the steep road to find the car flipped on its side and torn apart into splintered metal.
Clouds of dust and smoke had engulfed the narrow lane as a crowd of concerned onlookers gathered at the bottom of the hill.
The carriage derailed and began hurtling “at full speed” down a steep road completely “out of control” before crashing, witnesses said.
The funicular was making its usual 2,441ft journey through the Portuguese capital just after 6pm local time.
It was reportedly full with at least 38 people inside, made up of locals and tourists, due to it being rush hour in the busy city.
The brake guard in charge of the funicular, named as André Marques, would have started the descent by pulling a lever to make the cart move along the cables above it.
The Glória line’s two cars are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars that counterbalance each other.
As the journey down the hill started – a trip which should have taken two minutes and 12 seconds – the other tram started to come up like usual.
GettyAt least 16 people are confirmed dead[/caption]
ReutersFlowers seen the site of crash[/caption]
Shutterstock EditorialPortugal faces one day of mourning[/caption]
It is believed that a cable holding the lower streetcar snapped with witnesses hearing a “metallic thud” on the line.
Bruno Pereira told CNN Portugal: “I noticed that the tram below didn’t stop exactly where it was supposed to.
“There was a metallic thud, a loud noise, and the tram jumped off the track and moved about two feet onto the sidewalk.
“That was the first strange thing that happened.”
Due to the two trams needing each other to work properly the initial error caused the second carriage to lose control.
Professor Dave Cooper, Chair of the British Standards committee for Cableways in the UK, told The Sun: “It’s quite clear that the relationship between the two cars has been lost.”
He gave his expert take on the circumstances of the crash, which is still being probed by authorities.
A three-year-old boy is among the survivors – but he tragically lost his dad and was seen begging police for help.
His mum was also left fighting for her life.
Expert analysis: What went wrong?
Prof Dave Cooper, Chair the British Standards committee for Cableways in the UK, told The Sun about what may have caused the tragedy.
He said: “From an engineering design perspective what we know is that the system opened in 1885 and is therefore unlikely to have complied with modern standards expected of a new cableway system.
“It can be described as a heritage system. It had two cars each rated at 43 persons and travelled a distance of some 265metres.
“From description seen it is understood that the system had just set off with the lower car ascending and inversely the upper car descending.
“Passengers from the lower car describe it that the car had just left the bottom station and travelled a short distance and then suddenly reversed and relaxed to its stopping position.
“Given that the bottom car is still intact in that position and the top car that was descending is now down the track and has derailed it can be said that the relationship between the two cars has been lost.
“It is possible that the ropes that connected the two have broken. It is understood that there were bends in the track and that if the top car was descending uncontrollably the geometry of the track may have allowed the car to derail given the speed that it would have achieved.
“What is not understood is why the emergency brake (if there was one) on the uncontrollably descending car did not apply.
“It maybe that it did but was unable to overcome a combination of the mass of the car and its passengers and the speed at which it was travelling.”
The first victim of the tram disaster was named as brakeman André Marques.
Including the German mum, at least 21 people were injured in the horrifying crash.
Witnesses described the car crumpling like a “cardboard box” when it hit the wall.
Terrified onlooker Teresa d’Avo told TV channel SIC: “It crashed into a building with brutal force and fell apart like a cardboard box.
“It crashed with tremendous force. It didn’t have any kind of brakes.
“The people inside were obviously scared, and we rushed to help.”
The list of victims is understood to include eight women, seven men and two unidentified victims.
Among the dead and injured are Portuguese nationals, Germans, Spaniards, as well as people from South Korea, Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland, Morocco and Cape Verde, reports say.
Police are now investigating as they desperately try to piece together the tragedy, and Portugal faces a day of national mourning.
APOver 20 people were injured[/caption]
EPAA policeman stands next to the wreckage of the Gloria Funicular[/caption]