STORY: Portuguese witness and survivor who was travelling on the opposite end of Lisbon funicular, Abel Esteves, said on Thursday (September 4) he will never again take a tram.

"When I saw the other funicular going down, I shouted to my wife, 'We're all going to die here'", he told reporters in front of the site of the crash accident that killed at least 17 people and injured 21.

Footage from the site showed the mangled wreckage of the yellow tram-like funicular, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, lying where it had left the track and hit a building, just metres from another car at the bottom of the hill.

"You've seen that elevation from up there, about 200 or so metres unlocked from up there to down there, it goes at a crazy speed", Esteves said.

The city's remaining two lines were shut for inspections, authorities said.

Thirty-eight people were involved in the accident, with 15 killed at the scene while two more died in hospital overnight, said Margarida Martins, head of the city's emergency services.

The line's two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars that counterbalance each other.

As the cable apparently snapped, the car that was coming down the 265-metre slope lost its ability to brake and derailed on a turn, crashing into a corner building.

The car at the bottom of the line jolted back a couple of metres (yards) and was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders showed several passengers jumping out of its windows.

The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon's downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto, or Upper Quarter, famous for its vibrant nightlife.

The Gloria line transports around 3 million people annually, according to the town hall.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

'I won't take a tram ever again,' says witness who was travelling in opposite end funicular

VIDEO SHOWS: COMMENTS BY PORTUGUESE WITNESS AND SURVIVOR ABEL ESTEVES, WHO WAS TRAVELLING ON OPPOSITE FUNICULAR WHEN CRASH HAPPENED / FOOTAGE OF CRASH SITE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: LISBON, PORTUGAL (SEPTEMBER 4, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PORTUGUESE WITNESS WHO SURVIVED ON THE TRAM DOWNTOWN AS FUNICULAR CRASHED TO BUILDING, ABEL ESTEVES, TALKING WITH REPORTERS

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WITNESS OF LISBON FUNICULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, ABEL ESTEVES, SAYING:

“No, I'm not going to take it ever again. I will last for as long as I last, and I probably won't live much more, but as long as I last, I will never travel on it again.”

3. FUNICULAR AND CRASH IN THE BACKGROUND

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WITNESS OF LISBON FUNICULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, ABEL ESTEVES, SAYING:

"Well, when I saw the other funicular going down, I shouted to my wife, 'We're all going to die here', because I thought the elevator was coming to hit this one. That's because it has a high speed. You've seen that elevation from up there, about 200 or so metres unlocked from up there to down there, it goes at a crazy speed’

5. WRECKAGE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WITNESS OF LISBON FUNICULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, ABEL ESTEVES, SAYING:

“Unfortunately, the operator who died was who brought us down. And I said, have you seen? Some foreigners entered in front of us and all, and I said, "In your country, people come in like that, they don't respect people? And the guard went just smiled and said, "Abel you know how things are," and I sat down.”

7. ESTEVES WITH REPORTERS

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WITNESS OF LISBON FUNICULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, ABEL ESTEVES, SAYING:

"There's a bit of a curve there, I saw it coming down, I thought it was going to hit the building. There was a big bang. I run upstairs and there are already two guys, they've taken out a black lady, they've put her lying on the sidewalk. They even put her down on the sidewalk. I pull an iron over (Ed.'s note: referring to pulling the metal frame of the car out of the way) and managed to get another lady out, I said, 'this lady, put her on the sidewalk too, this lady is already dead,' I said to the boys, put this lady on the sidewalk, this lady is dead.”

9. CRASH SITE

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WITNESS OF LISBON FUNICULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, ABEL ESTEVES, SAYING:

“I was only more afraid when I saw the other one going down. I was more afraid when I saw the other one going down as it would hurt this one because we were all in there, 30 or so people, close to 40, and the other one would fall on top of it, it would be all hurt in here.”

11. ESTEVES WITH REPORTERS

12. CRASH SITE