President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday offered his “deepest condolences” to Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and “the people of Portugal” following the death of 17 people after the derailment of a funicular tram in Lisbon which killed 17 people.

He described the incident as “tragic”, and said, “our thought are with the victims, their families, and all those affected as we stand in solidarity with Portugal”.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said he was “deeply saddened by the news of the tragic accident in Lisbon”.

He also offered his “deepest condolences” to his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel and said, “my thoughts are with the victims and their bereaved families, and everyone affected”.

“I wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he said.

At least 17 people were killed and at least 20 were injured when a tram on Lisbon’s Gloria Funicular, which connects the Restauradores Square in Lisbon’s downtown with its upper Bairro Alto district, derailed, before striking a building at around 6pm local time (8pm Cyprus time) on Wednesday.

Montenegro had described the crash as “one of the greatest human tragedies in our recent history” and said that he expects an investigation into the causes of the crash to be conducted swiftly.

He also hailed the “courage” displayed by first responders and other emergency service workers in light of the tragedy, saying that “s”.