One of the 16 people died in Wednesday's disaster of the well-known funicular train in Lisbon, which stunned Portugal and raised serious concerns about the accident's origin, was confirmed by the College of Charleston on Friday.
In addition to injuring 21, the disaster claimed the life of only one American, Heather Hall, a faculty member in the Department of Teacher Education. According to the Portuguese authorities, five Portuguese nationals, two South Koreans, one Swiss, three British, two Canadian, one French, and one Ukrainian were among the deceased.
Fran Welch, dean of the School of Education, said in a statement that Hall had traveled to Lisbon to present at a conference.
Welch remarked, "This is a tragic loss for all of us." "As an alumna of the College (‘97) and a dynamic instructor with a specialization is special education, she shared her love of travel with her students."
According to the statement, Hall had accompanied her students on study abroad excursions to Italy while serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana.
Welch continued, "Her energy, kindness and student-centeredness will be deeply missed."
Hall's Facebook profile highlights her love of travel with pictures of her at the Colosseum in Rome, Venice, and Havana.
Overnight, the Elevador da Glória, the funicular's debris, was removed and placed under police custody.
Authorities were notified about the derailment at 6:01 p.m. local time (12:01 p.m. ET), and they responded within three minutes, Alexandre Rodrigues, the Lisbon fire brigade chief, told reporters on Wednesday. According to him, the funicular went off course and struck a structure.
.jpeg)
