The Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced that it has been possible to identify eight of the 16 fatalities in yesterday’s disaster involving Lisbon’s iconic Glória funicular.
Five of the dead were Portuguese (one being the driver of the cable-tram, and four being employees of charitable institution, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa), plus two South Koreans and one Swiss man.
Efforts are now underway, through DNA/ dental records, to identify the remaining eight victims, which PJ police believe they have narrowed down to two Canadians, one Ukrainian, one American, three Britons and a French man. (UPDATE: this has since been officially confirmed.)
It was with this process in mind that PJ judicial police announced the ‘hotline’ for families of the victims (tel: 211 968 000 | e-mail chefepiquetelx@pj.pt).
Some identities have already been given. The driver André Marques, being the first fatality named. One of the other Portuguese killed has been named also. He was Pedro Manuel Alves Trindade, a former referee for the Portuguese Volleyball Federation, and one of the four Santa Casa employees.
Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa has issued a statement, lamenting the loss, saying “We have lost colleagues, friends, people with whom we share our day to day, and our mission”.
There are two further Santa Casa employees among the injured being treated in hospital.
All the lightly injured victims have been discharged, according to a note from the SNS health service, leaving six people in intensive care, and another three whose conditions are evolving favourably.
The nationalities of the injured are Portuguese (three), German (one, male), South Korean (one male), Moroccan (one, female), Cape Verdian (one, female), Swiss (one, female) and one (male) whose nationality has not yet been established.
GPIAAF, the office for the Prevention and Investigation of Accidents in Civil Aviation and Rail, has said that it will be giving a statement tomorrow afternoon, with a preliminary report on this accident available in 45 days.
Much more will emerge tomorrow.
sources : LUSA/ SNS/ Público
