Lisbon funicular crash: Cable snapped before crash, investigators say

The rest of the mechanism worked properly, says a preliminary statement into the crash which killed 16 people.

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"After examining the wreckage at the site, it was immediately determined that the cable connecting the two carriages had given way," a statement by the national transport safety office said.

The brakeman tried to apply emergency brakes but failed to prevent the derailment, the investigators add.

Sixteen people died and about 20 were injured when the upper carriage of the iconic yellow Glória funicular railway crashed into a building.

Five of those killed were Portuguese along with three Britons, two South Koreans, two Canadians, an American, a Ukrainian, a Swiss and a French national, police said.