It was just after 18:00 on Wednesday when a carriage on Lisbon's famous Gloria funicular came around the bend of a steep cobblestoned street, crashed into a building, and crumpled, an eyewitness said.
"It hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box," Teresa d'Avó told Portuguese television channel SIC, adding it seemed like it "had no brakes".
Police are still investigating the cause of the crash, which killed at least 17 people and injured 20 more, some critically, near Lisbon's Avenida da Liberdade in the Portuguese capital.
Video verified by the BBC shows the crashed yellow-and-white train on the bend of a hill crumpled against the building, with another train stopped at the bottom. People are running up the incline towards the scene of the crash.
Helen Chow, who is from Canada and was visiting Lisbon, was at the base of the Gloria Hill, from where the trams ascend to the Bairro Alto district, when she said she heard a loud screech.
