'Out of control': Witnesses describe fatal Lisbon funicular crash

It was just after 18:00 on Wednesday when a carriage on Lisbon's famous Gloria funicular careened around the bend of a steep cobblestoned street, crashed into a building, and crumpled, eyewitnesses said.

The carriage "lost control", descending at full speed and crashing on its side, Helen Chow, who was at the base of the hill, told the BBC.

It sounded like a bomb, she said, followed by "complete scary silence...There was pitch black smoke. Once it dissipated, you saw exactly what happened."

People were frantic and crying, with others running to help, she described.

"It was awful," she said. "I am shaken."

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 against the building on the bend of a hill, with another train stopped at the bottom. People are running up the incline towards the scene of the crash.