Originally published at The Crux
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LISBON, Portugal — Lisbon inaugurated a memorial Thursday to the 16 people killed in a funicular derailment a year ago, as questions persist about the safety of the city’s iconic hillside streetcars, which remain at a standstill.
Near the crash site, a 150-year-old olive tree stood at the center of a ring of limestone blocks laid into the ground featuring the names of the victims. Foreign ambassadors laid wreaths and the Patriarch of Lisbon, a senior Catholic church official, offered a blessing.
The accident was one of the Portuguese capital’s worst tragedies in recent memory and cast a shadow over the city’s ongoing tourism boom.
The picturesque yellow streetcar, called a funicular because it travels up and down a steep hill in tandem with a second car, is a popular tourist attraction. Authorities said that 11 of those killed were foreigners, likely tourists who stand in long lines to board it.
People look at a streetcar
