Portuguese authorities are investigating what caused a Lisbon funicular railway popular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22 when it crashed into a building.
The Portuguese Prosecutor General's office said coroners had so far identified the bodies of five Portuguese, two South Koreans and one Swiss national, without disclosing further details of those killed.
Portugal's judicial police chief, Luis Neves, said there was a "high degree of certainty" that there were also two Canadians, one American, one Ukrainian and one German among the dead, although the identities could not yet be officially confirmed.
The wreckage of a yellow tram-like carriage, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, lay where it had left the track and hit a building, just metres from its twin at the bottom of the steep 265m slope.
The traction cable linking them had snapped.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said it is not aware of any Irish citizens affected.
In a statement, it said the Irish embassy was "monitoring the situation closely and stands ready to provide consular assistance".
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Flags flew at half-mast as Portugal declared a day of mourning and the city's two other funiculars were shut for inspections.
Pope Leo XIV sent condolences and blessings to victims, relatives and rescuers.
"This is one of the greatest human tragedies in our recent history," Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said in a press conference, adding that he expected the investigation into the causes of the accident to be concluded swiftly.
He said Portugal's state airline TAP had offered to provide transport for the families of the victims and to repatriate the injured and the deceased.
Thirty-eight people were hurt in the incident, with 15 killed at the scene while one more died in hospital overnight.
Lisbon's director of emergency services Margarida Martins had earlier said that 17 had died.
Emergency services at scene of funicular crash in Lisbon yesterday
Manuel Leal, leader of the Fectrans union, told local TV workers had complained that problems with the tension of the cable that hauls the carriages had made braking difficult, but that it was too early to say if that was the cause of the crash.
The municipal transport company Carris said in a statement that "all maintenance protocols have been carried out", including monthly and weekly maintenance and daily inspections.
Police took photos of the wreckage and inspected the braking system on the undamaged carriage.
The two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, alternately climb the slope and descend as electric motors pull the cable linking them.
That cable appears to have snapped, a fire brigade official said. Seemingly unable to check its descent, the carriage entered the turn too fast, ploughing into the cobblestone pavement and crashing into a building.
The lower car jolted back a couple of metres (yards) and was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders showed several passengers jumping out of its windows.
The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon's city centre area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto, or Upper Quarter, famous for its nightlife, and transports around 3 million people a year.
Portugal, and Lisbon in particular, have experienced a tourism boom in the past decade, with visitors cramming the popular city centre area in the summer months.
Accreditation: AFP/Reuters
