Workers lifted the wreckage of the Ascensor da Glória funicular on Friday (September 5), two days after it hurtled off the track and into a building, killing 16 people and injuring 22, authorities said.

Recovery operations were underway on Thursday (September 4) night and continued into the early hours of Friday, as workers removed two yellow tram-like carriages from a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital.

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, plowing into the cobblestone pavement and crashing into a building.

The lower car jolted back a couple of meters (yards) and was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders showed several passengers jumping out of its windows.

Portuguese authorities were investigating on Thursday what caused the funicular railway popular with tourists to crash.

The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon's downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto, or Upper Quarter, famous for its nightlife, and transports around 3 million people a year.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

LISBON, PORTUGAL (SEPTEMBER 5, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

1. SITE OF FUNICULAR CRASH, CREW, HEAVY MACHINERY AND CRANE ON SITE

2. VARIOUS OF CREW INSPECTING UNDERNEATH UNWRECKED FUNICULAR CARRIAGE

3. WRECKED FUNICULAR CARRIAGE BEING MOVED INTO ADJACENT ALLEY

LISBON, PORTUGAL (SEPTEMBER 4, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

4. VARIOUS OF WORKERS ON HEAVY MACHINERY MOVING WRECKED CARRIAGE

5. CRASH SITE, VEHICLES

LISBON, PORTUGAL (SEPTEMBER 5, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

6. VARIOUS OF WORKERS HOISTING UNWRECKED CARRIAGE OFF TRACK

7. TRACK, CABLES UNDER CARRIAGE

8. VARIOUS OF UNWRECKED CARRIAGE BEING REMOVED WITH CRANE

9. WRECKED CARRIAGE SEEN THROUGH WINDOW

10. UNWRECKED CARRIAGE BEING REMOVED WITH CRANE

11. WORKERS WITH TORCH

12. VARIOUS OF WRECKED CARRIAGE BEING MOVED INTO ADJACENT ALLEY

13. CRASH SITE, VEHICLES

14. VARIOUS OF WRECKED CARRIAGE BEING MOVED INTO ADJACENT ALLEY

15. CRASH SITE, VEHICLES

16. WORKER HAULING ROPE, WRECKED CARRIAGE IN ALLEY

17. TRUCK IN ALLEY

18. VARIOUS OF TRUCK CARRYING WRECKED CARRIAGE DRIVING AWAY