Shocking Elevador da Glória Report Reveals More Than President Expected

Preliminary Report on Elevador da Glória Accident Surprises President

The preliminary report from the GPIAAF (Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e Acidentes Ferroviários) on the Elevador da Glória accident has taken President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa by surprise, revealing "much more" than he had initially thought. Despite this, the President insists that responsibilities should only be determined after the final report is released.

In a Thursday night interview with RTP, the head of state acknowledged that the preliminary report, which highlights that the traction cable of the Elevador da Glória was not certified for use in passenger transport installations, led to the resignation of the Carris administration board. Marcelo emphasized his legal background, stating, "I am a jurist, I have legal training. I want to wait for the definitive report. Clearly, the preliminary report has already had some consequences, but those are decisions made by others. I wanted to see the definitive report to confirm everything in the preliminary one, which is much more than I had thought."

When asked about what specifically surprised him in the report, Marcelo declined to elaborate, saying, "I do not want to pressure the definitive report. There had been talk of two or three things, mainly, and the report adds to those two or three things a few more, so let's wait for the definitive one."

He stressed that responsibilities must be ascertained based on the definitive report and avoided commenting on whether political responsibilities should be assigned if the final report corroborates the preliminary findings. "I did not want to anticipate the definitive report, otherwise it's pressure on its preparation," he noted, adding that the preliminary report was done without pressures, and the same should apply to the definitive version to properly assess the situation and draw conclusions.