Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A preliminary report released Tuesday about last month's deadly crash of one of Lisbon's famed funiculars found that an unapproved underground cable snapped just before the incident.
The Sept. 3 crash of the Elevador da Glória, a 111-year-old two-car funicular that operates the sloping streets of Portugal's capital, killed 16 people after one of the cars broke free and crashed into a building along the route. More than a dozen other people were injured in the incident.
The preliminary report by Portugal's Air and Rail Accident Investigations Bureau found that the cause of the crash was an underground cable that snapped, allowing the car at the top of the hill to break free.
Though the cable had a minimum breaking load within the safety parameters of the Glória Funicular, the investigators found the cable was not in compliance with specifications by the city's transport operator, CCFL.
The haulage cable ran between the two cars and acted as a counterweight between them as one descended the hill and the other ascended from the opposite direction.
