Cable failure and maintenance flaws contributed to funicular crash, report says

Police tape cordons off access to the funicular crash site (Armando Franca/AP)

The failure of a steel cable and maintenance flaws contributed to a funicular crash in Lisbon that killed 16 people, including three Britons, and injured 21 others, according to an official preliminary report published in Portugal.

The derailment last month is one of Lisbon’s worst tragedies in recent memory. The century-old streetcar, called a funicular because it travels up an down a steep hill in tandem with a second car, is a popular city tourist attraction.