One of Lisbon's most iconic tourist attractions, the Gloria funicular, derailed and crashed on Wednesday evening.

At least 15 people have been killed and 18 more injured, some critically, local authorities have said.

It is not yet clear what caused the carriage to derail.

Here's everything we know so far:

What have authorities said?

The crash occurred at around 18:05 on Wednesday, near Lisbon's Avenida da Liberdade, according to local authorities.

More than 60 emergency service personnel and 22 vehicles were deployed to the scene.

Officials said it was too early to determine the cause of the incident. However, Portuguese newspaper Observador reported that a cable came loose along the railway's route, causing it to lose control and collide with a nearby building.

Images and footage from the scene the showed an overturned yellow carriage, which appeared almost entirely destroyed.

People could be seen fleeing the area on foot as smoke engulfed the cobbled street.

• At least 15 dead after Lisbon's historic funicular derails

What do we know about the casualties?

Portugal's emergency medical service authority said at least 15 people have been been killed and 18 others injured.

Five of those injured were in a serious condition, it said. The remaining thirteen, which included a child, sustained minor injuries.

Lisbon's mayor, Carlos Moedas, said the victims had been taken to hospital.

Some of those killed were foreign nationals, authorities said.

Several people trapped at the scene have since been freed, the medical authority said.

Who was onboard?

The Gloria funicular can carry up to 43 passengers and is extremely popular with tourists.

It is not known how many people were onboard at the time of the collision, however.

What is the Gloria funicular and how does it work?

A funicular is a type of railway system that allows travel up and down steep slopes.

In Lisbon, funiculars are among the most sought after tourist attractions. The bright yellow vehicles are a crucial means of navigating the city's steep, cobbled streets.

The Gloria funicular - the railway on which the collision took place - was opened in 1885 and electrified three decades later.

It travels some 275m (900ft) from Restauradores, a square in the centre of Lisbon, up to the picturesque streets of Bairro Alto. The journey takes just three minutes to complete.

Unlike traditional funiculars, the two cars on the Gloria funicular are powered by electric motors.

They are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable meaning that as one travels downhill, its weight lifts the other, allowing them to ascend and descend simultaneously.

'Lisbon is in mourning'

Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas has declared three days of municipal mourning for the victims of the incident.

Posting on X, he said: "I extend my heartfelt condolences to all the families and friends of the victims. Lisbon is in mourning."

Spain's Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez said he was "appalled by the terrible accident".

"All our affection and solidarity with the families of the victims and with the Portuguese people in this difficult moment," he wrote in a statement on X.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he "deeply regrets" the "fatalities and serious injuries" caused by the crash.

In a statement, he expressed his "condolences and solidarity with the families affected by this tragedy" and hoped for clarity around the incident from authorities soon.

Pedro Bogas from Carris, the Lisbon Tramways Company, told reporters it was a "very a sad day, not just for the victims but also for their families".

"We have strict protocols, excellent professionals for many years, and we need to get to the bottom of what happened," he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: "It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous Elevador da Glória. My condolences to the families of the victims."

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein gave emotional accounts of sexual abuse on Wednesday, as they spoke on the steps of the US Capitol and called for lawmakers to release more files about the convicted sex offender.

One of the women, Lisa Phillips, said the group had begun compiling a confidential list of Epstein associates who they say were involved in abuse

"We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world," she said. "It will be done by survivors, and for survivors."

The event was organised by US lawmakers who are calling for more files from the Epstein investigation to be released publicly.

During the two-hour news conference, nine female Epstein accusers detailed their experiences and abuse at the hands of the disgraced financier.

Ms Phillips urged the Department of Justice to release all the documents and information it has from the investigation, adding that many victims were afraid of repercussions if they went public with names themselves.

A lawyer for the accusers added that they are scared of being sued or attacked because "nobody protected them the first time".

Marina Lacerda, speaking publicly for the first time, said she worked for Epstein from the age of 14 until she was 17, when the disgraced financier determined she was "too old".

"I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey's mansion... in New York City when we were just kids," she said.

"A friend of mine in the neighbourhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage," Lacerda said, while becoming visibly emotional. "It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare."

Annie Farmer, who is now 46, said she was taken to New Mexico aged 16 to spend a weekend with Epstein. Her sister was also flown there and reported the abuse, she said, but nothing was done.

"We still do not know why that report wasn't properly investigated, or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women," she said.

Chauntae Davies addressed a question about the relationship between Trump and Epstein, saying the sex offender's "biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump".

"He had a framed picture of him on his desk, with the two of them," she said.

Trump was a friend of Epstein, but said they fell out in the early 2000s because the financier poached employees from the spa in Trump's Florida golf club.

"This is a Democrat hoax that never ends," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday when asked about the nearby news conference.

He said "nobody is ever satisfied" with the files that have been released, adding that the call for more releases is a distraction from his record in office.

"Really I think it's enough," Trump said.

On Tuesday evening, 33,000 pages and several videos were made public by the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed the Justice Department and Epstein estate. Most of those, however, were already in the public domain.

The top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, said: "Don't let this fool you".

"After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims," he said.

It is believed that the Department of Justice has about 100,000 pages of material on Epstein.

The release on Tuesday followed last month's publication of the US Department of Justice interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was an accomplice of Epstein.

In the transcripts - which run to 300 pages, some heavily redacted - Maxwell said that while she believed Trump and Epstein were friendly "in social settings", she didn't think they were close friends.

Two members of the House, Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California, are trying to force a vote on compelling the justice department to release all documents in the case.

They were gathering signatures on Wednesday, with dozens of representatives agreeing to back the move. They will need 218 signatures to force a vote, meaning two Republicans would need to support it.

"It's shameful this has been called a hoax. This is not a hoax," Massie said. "There are real victims to this criminal enterprise and the perpetrators are being protected because they are rich and powerful."

The White House and Republican congressional leaders oppose the release of all of the files, saying that it could expose the identities of victims who do not want to go public.

A strike carried out by US forces on a boat in the Caribbean Sea - which the White House says killed 11 drug traffickers - may have violated international human rights and maritime law, legal experts have told BBC Verify.

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces destroyed a vessel which he said had departed from Venezuela. He said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs bound for the US.

US defence officials have so far declined to offer details on the strike, footage of which Trump shared on Truth Social, including what legal authority they relied upon to justify it.

BBC Verify reached out to a range of experts in international and maritime law, with several saying that US may have acted illegally in attacking the vessel.

The US is not a signatory to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but the US military's legal advisors have previously said that the US should "act in a manner consistent with its provisions".

Under the convention, countries agree not to interfere with vessels operating in international waters. There are limited exceptions to this which allow a state to seize a ship, such as a "hot pursuit" where a vessel is chased from a country's waters into the high seas.

"Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures," Prof Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast said.

But he added that the use of aggressive tactics must be "reasonable and necessary in self-defence where there is immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life to enforcement officials", noting that the US moves were likely "unlawful under the law of the sea".

Are US strikes on alleged cartel members legal?

Experts have also questioned whether the killing of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua cartel could contravene international law on the use of force.

Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defence. Trump has previously accused the Tren de Aragua cartel of conducting irregular warfare against the US, and the state department has designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

But Prof Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told BBC Verify that the US actions "stretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point".

"The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets," he said. "The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization."

"Not only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law."

Prof Moffett said that the use of force in this case could amount to an "extrajudicial arbitrary killing" and "a fundamental violation of human rights".

"Labelling everyone a terrorist does not make them a lawful target and enables states to side-step international law," he said.

Notre Dame Law School Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell told BBC Verify that the strike "violated fundamental principles of international law", adding: "Intentional killing outside armed conflict hostilities is unlawful unless it is to save a life immediately."

"Sometimes armed groups waging war against governments deal in drugs to pay for their participation in conflict. There is no evidence the gang President Trump targeted is such a group."

But US officials have been quick to defend the strike. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham wrote on X that the strike was the "ultimate - and most welcome - sign that we have a new sheriff in town".

His fellow Republican senator, Bernie Moreno from Ohio, wrote: "Sinking this boat saved American lives. To the narco traffickers and the narco dictators, you'll eventually get the same treatment."

A White House official told BBC Verify that Trump had authorised the strike on the boat, which they said was crewed by Tren de Aragua members, after it left Venezuela. The official added that the president was committed to using all means to prevent drugs reaching the US.

The Pentagon declined to offer further comment or share the legal advice it obtained before carrying out the strike.

Can Trump launch attacks without Congressional approval?

Questions have also been raised as to whether the White House complied with US law in authorising the strike. The US constitution says that only Congress has the power to declare war.

However, Article II - which lays out the president's powers - says that "the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army" and some constitutional experts have suggested that this grants the president the power to authorise strikes against military targets. Trump administration sources have previously cited this provision when defending US strikes on Iran.

But it is unclear whether that provision extends to the use of force against non-state actors such as drug cartels.

• Trump says 11 killed in US strike on drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela
• US offers $50m reward for arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro
• Venezuela's ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terrorism charges

Rumen Cholakov, an expert in US constiutional law at King's College London told BBC Verify that since 9/11, US presidents have relied on the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force Act (AUMF) when carrying out strikes against groups responsible for the attacks.

"Its scope has been expanded consistently in subsequent administrations," he added. "It is not immediately obvious that drug cartels such as Tren de Aragua would be within the President's AUMF powers, but that might be what "narco-terrorists" is hinting at."

Questions also remain as to whether Trump complied with the War Powers Resolution, which demands that the president "in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities".

How did the US conduct the strike?

It is unclear what method the US used to launch the attack. Trump did not offer details in his news conference in the Oval Office and the Department of Defense has failed to offer further information.

In Venezuela President Maduro has yet to respond to the US strikes, but his Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez has suggested that the footage released by the White House may have been generated using AI. In a post to X, he suggested that water in the video "looks very stylized and unnatural".

BBC Verify has run the clip through SynthID - Google's AI detection software - and found no evidence that the footage is fake.

The strikes come amid reports that the US has deployed several naval warships to the region in support of anti-narcotics operations against Venezuela.

We've not been able to track all of these vessels. But using information from publicly-available onboard trackers, and videos on social media, we've potentially identified four of them in the region.

A ship identifying itself as the USS Lake Erie - a guided missile cruiser - last transmitted its location in the Caribbean Sea on 30 August, east of the Panama Canal on 30 August.

Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay. A fourth, the USS Fort Lauderdale, transmitted its location north of the Dominican Republic on 28 August.

Trump - who has long sought to oust Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro - has authorised a US$50m reward for any information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan leader claimed victory in last year's elections, widely viewed as rigged by international observers.

Additional reporting by Lucy Gilder.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

At least three people have been killed and 20 others injured after Lisbon's famous Gloria funicular cable railway derailed and crashed, emergency services said.

In an earlier statement, the head of Portugal's Civil Protection Authority said that several people remained trapped at the scene and two people were in a serious condition.

Portuguese newspaper Observador reported that a cable came loose along the railway's route, causing it to lose control and collide with a nearby building.

The incident happened near the Avenida da Liberdade around 18:05 on Wednesday evening.

Footage shared widely on social media showed the yellow funicular overturned and almost entirely destroyed.

People could be seen fleeing the area on foot as what appears to be smoke smoke filled the air.

The Gloria Funicular is one of the most famous sights and tourist attractions in Lisbon. It was opened in 1885 and electrified three decades later.

Victims of Jeffrey Epstein gave emotional accounts of sexual abuse on Wednesday, as they spoke on the steps of the US Capitol and called for lawmakers to release more files about the convicted sex offender.

One of the women, Lisa Phillips, said the group had begun compiling a confidential list of Epstein associates who they say were involved in abuse

"We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world," she said. "It will be done by survivors, and for survivors."

The event was organised by US lawmakers who are calling for more files from the Epstein investigation to be released publicly.

During the two-hour news conference, nine female Epstein accusers detailed their experiences and abuse at the hands of the disgraced financier.

Ms Phillips urged the Department of Justice to release all the documents and information it has from the investigation, adding that many victims were afraid of repercussions if they went public with names themselves.

A lawyer for the accusers added that they are scared of being sued or attacked because "nobody protected them the first time".

Marina Lacerda, speaking publicly for the first time, said she worked for Epstein from the age of 14 until she was 17, when the disgraced financier determined she was "too old".

"I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey's mansion... in New York City when we were just kids," she said.

"A friend of mine in the neighbourhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage," Lacerda said, while becoming visibly emotional. "It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare."

Annie Farmer, who is now 46, said she was taken to New Mexico aged 16 to spend a weekend with Epstein. Her sister was also flown there and reported the abuse, she said, but nothing was done.

"We still do not know why that report wasn't properly investigated, or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women," she said.

Chauntae Davies addressed a question about the relationship between Trump and Epstein, saying the sex offender's "biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump".

"He had a framed picture of him on his desk, with the two of them," she said.

Trump was a friend of Epstein, but said they fell out in the early 2000s because the financier poached employees from the spa in Trump's Florida golf club.

"This is a Democrat hoax that never ends," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday when asked about the nearby news conference.

He said "nobody is ever satisfied" with the files that have been released, adding that the call for more releases is a distraction from his record in office.

"Really I think it's enough," Trump said.

On Tuesday evening, 33,000 pages and several videos were made public by the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed the Justice Department and Epstein estate. Most of those, however, were already in the public domain.

The top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, said: "Don't let this fool you".

"After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims," he said.

It is believed that the Department of Justice has about 100,000 pages of material on Epstein.

The release on Tuesday followed last month's publication of the US Department of Justice interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was an accomplice of Epstein.

In the transcripts - which run to 300 pages, some heavily redacted - Maxwell said that while she believed Trump and Epstein were friendly "in social settings", she didn't think they were close friends.

Two members of the House, Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California, are trying to force a vote on compelling the justice department to release all documents in the case.

They were gathering signatures on Wednesday, with dozens of representatives agreeing to back the move. They will need 218 signatures to force a vote, meaning two Republicans would need to support it.

"It's shameful this has been called a hoax. This is not a hoax," Massie said. "There are real victims to this criminal enterprise and the perpetrators are being protected because they are rich and powerful."

The White House and Republican congressional leaders oppose the release of all of the files, saying that it could expose the identities of victims who do not want to go public.

Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks on the outskirts of Gaza City, residents say, as the military steps up preparations for a ground offensive to conquer it.

Hospitals said women and children were among more than 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the city on Wednesday, most of them in the north and west.

The Israeli military's chief of staff vowed to "continue striking Hamas's centres of gravity until it is defeated" and its hostages freed.

The UN and aid groups said the Israeli operations were already having "horrific humanitarian consequences" for displaced families sheltering in the city, which is home to a million people and where a famine was declared last month.

Meanwhile, Israeli protesters took part in what they called a "day of disruption" to press their government to immediately agree a deal that would end the war in return for the release of all 48 Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Hospital officials said Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip had killed at least 46 people since midnight.

Gaza City's Shifa hospital said it had received the bodies of 21 people, including five killed when an Israeli warplane targeted an apartment in the western Fisherman's Port area.

One of the strikes killed the parents and two sisters of three-year-old Ibrahim al-Mabhuh, his grandmother said.

Umm Abu al-Abed Abu al-Jubein told Reuters news agency that she had found him buried underneath the rubble of a destroyed column in the home where the displaced family from the nearby town of Jabalia had been sheltering.

"He is the only one that God saved... We woke up to the boy screaming," she said.

First responders said Israeli drones also dropped incendiary bombs in the vicinity of a clinic overnight in the northern Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where troops and tanks were reportedly advancing.

Videos posted on social media overnight appeared to a fire next to an ambulance inside the Sheikh Radwan Clinic's compound, and another ambulance ablaze on a nearby street.

Residents also told Reuters that Israeli forces dropped grenades on three schools in Sheikh Radwan being used as shelters for displaced families, setting tents ablaze, and detonated armoured vehicles laden with explosives to destroy homes in the east of the neighbourhood.

"Sheikh Radwan is being burnt upside-down. The occupation [Israel] destroyed houses, burnt tents, and drones played audio messages ordering people to leave the area," said Zakeya Sami, a 60-year-old mother of five.

The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.

During a visit to Gaza on Wednesday, the military's Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, told troops: "We have entered the second phase of Operation 'Gideon's Chariots' to fulfil the objectives of the war."

"Returning our hostages is both a moral and national mission. We will continue striking Hamas's centres of gravity until it is defeated."

Hamas denounced what it called the "operations of systematic destruction" by Israeli forces in Gaza City, saying they constituted "an unprecedented violation" of international law.

UN agencies and their humanitarian partners in the Gaza Site Management Cluster said the announcement of intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza City on 7 August was "having horrific humanitarian consequences for people in displacement sites, many of whom were earlier displaced from North Gaza [governorate]", which includes Jabalia.

They warned that many households were unable to move due to high costs and logistical challenges, as well as a lack of safe space. And they said forcing hundreds of thousands to move south could amount to forcible transfer under international law.

Since 14 August, more than 82,000 people had been newly displaced, according to the cluster. Most people moved towards the crowded coast. Only a third have left for southern Gaza, as the Israeli military has instructed.

The military has told them to head to the al-Mawasi area, saying medical care, water and food will be provided. However, the UN has the tent camps there are overcrowded and unsafe, and that southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity.

On Tuesday, five children were killed while queuing for water at a tent camp in al-Mawasi. Witnesses said they were struck by an Israeli drone.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to conquer all of Gaza after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.

The hostages' families fear the offensive will endanger those held in Gaza City and want the prime minister to instead negotiate an agreement that would secure their release.

Regional mediators have presented a proposal that would see 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages released during a 60-day truce. However, Netanyahu has said he will only accept a comprehensive deal that would see them all freed and Hamas disarmed.

On Wednesday, Israelis demanding an immediate deal set fire to tyres and rubbish bins and damaged parked cars in Jerusalem.

Thirteen were arrested after they climbed on the roof of the National Library and displayed a banner that said: "You have abandoned and also killed."

Some hostages' relatives addressed a large crowd near the prime minister's residence.

They included Ofir Braslavski, the father of Rom Braslavski, 21, who was seen emaciated and injured in a video sent by his Islamic Jihad captors in early August.

"My son Rom is dying, starving, and tortured. You can see in his eyes that he no longer wants to live. There is nothing harder a father can witness when he cannot do anything," he said, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

"How is it possible that a month after my son's video was released, showing the horrors there, the government leaves him there? And the prime minister wants to conquer more territory? I can't understand that."

US President Donald Trump, who helped broker the previous ceasefire and hostage release deal in January, wrote on social media: "Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!"

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 63,746 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry also says 367 people, have so far died during the war as a result of malnutrition and starvation, including six over the past 24 hours.