Lisbon funicular crash kills two South Koreans

A funicular derailment in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sept. 3 local time killed 13 people from seven countries, including two South Koreans, a man and a woman. Authorities said three of the dead have yet to be identified. A South Korean woman was also injured, underwent surgery at a local hospital, and remains in intensive care.

Local media reported on Sept. 4 that damage to the cable that pulls the car uphill and brakes it on the descent was the likely cause. According to the Portuguese daily Público, a maintenance company inspected the funicular nine hours before the crash but found no issues. The cable is normally replaced every 600 days, and the one involved in the accident was about 263 days short of its scheduled replacement.

Some experts said outdated materials used in the funicular worsened the damage. Vice President Jorge Silva of the Portuguese Association of Civil Protection Technical Experts told Reuters, “If the cars had been built with new materials such as carbon fiber instead of the metal and wood used since 1914, the impact would have been weaker and the death toll lower.” Passenger volume on the route has tripled over the past decade, adding to the strain, they said. Portuguese authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.


김보라 purple@donga.com