Prime Minister says official death toll from Glória Elevator accident is 16, not 17
Luís Montenegro said that the Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs (IRN) "will provide a team in Lisbon to speed up death registrations and ensure priority service".
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro stated on Thursday that the official death toll following the Elevador da Glória accident is 16 people, contrary to what had been indicated this morning by Lisbon Civil Protection.
“Yesterday Portugal was shaken by a terrible accident. This is one of the greatest human tragedies in our recent history”, said the Prime Minister in a statement to the nation from São Bento.
“There are 15 bodies at the Institute of Legal Medicine and one more at the São José Hospital morgue”, an official source from the Prime Minister’s office confirmed to ECO.
The director of the Lisbon Municipal Civil Protection Service, Margarida Castro Martins, in a briefing in front of the elevator, had said that in addition to the 15 deaths already confirmed on Wednesday night, there were two more — two seriously injured who had died during the night — but the information was incorrect. There has only been one more fatality so far.
Of the 21 injured, five are in critical condition, Luís Montenegro added.
The head of government made a statement to the media, without taking questions, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, alongside the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, who participated in the final part of the meeting at Montenegro’s invitation.
Montenegro promised to “investigate all responsibilities with respect for those who felt and are suffering the effects of this accident” and assured that, through the competent services, the Government is “in contact with foreign families”.
The Prime Minister also said that the Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs (IRN) “will provide a team in Lisbon to speed up death registrations and ensure priority service”.
He also revealed that “TAP has already offered to provide all the support needed to transport the families of Portuguese or foreign citizens who are abroad to Portugal, as well as to repatriate the injured or transfer the deceased”.
“This is a pain that has no nationality”, said the head of government, who also expressed his gratitude for “all the international solidarity”.
The government has declared today a day of national mourning, while Lisbon City Council has decided to adopt three days of municipal mourning.
The Glória lift connects Restauradores to Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara, in Bairro Alto, covering a distance of around 265 metres, and is very popular with tourists.
