We Won't Forget City Left Searching for Answers

António Azevedo was in central Lisbon early on Wednesday evening, waiting to gather enough tourists for a ride in his tuk-tuk, when he heard what sounded like dozens of glass containers being dropped into dozens of rubbish trucks.

- Catarina Fernandes Martins

The driver looked around Restauradores Square but saw no trucks, only smoke rising from the lower station of the Elevador da Glória funicular railway, 100 metres from where his vehicle was parked.

Azevedo and other business owners dashed to the scene to find that one of the Glória trams had derailed and crashed into a building in Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon's main artery.

Shocked, disorientated and unsure of what to do amid all the screaming and crying, the helpers began picking up metal pieces from the ground, wondering if they should try to lift what was left of the car's main structure in case survivors were trapped beneath it.

One fellow rescuer passed a bleeding young boy to Azevedo, who held him as he cried for his father. Soon after, police and firefighters arrived at the scene and ordered Azevedo and the others not to touch or move anything.