Sometime between 7:05 and 7:08 in the morning, tram 110, heading from Ghencea to House of the Free Press left the "Bulevardul Timișoara" stop in Drumul Taberei.

Even so, the walk to the nearest stop (which is beyond the underpass) would take place in rather unsuitable conditions, since there are only roadways and the concrete-foundations tram track in the middle.

One minute later, tram 296 left Drumul Taberei heading towards House of the Free Press, and entered the underpass at 7:11 at 50 km/h.

The rear end of 300 (where the shunting controls are located) was destroyed and pushed inside, whilst the front of 296 was crushed and the destination display fell from its hinges.

The impact was so strong it derailed the two trams involved in the crash and pushed 300 into the back of 110, damaging its rear lights and causing a few dents to its last carriage, even leaving a square mark from a bumper from the front of 300.

As the incident took place during rush hour, the people, packed inside the trams were thrown around and injured from hitting various objects (handrails, hard seats, the floor) and glass shards.

Initially people attempted to escape through the shattered windows, and a few seconds later the doors opened by themselves, meaning that the driver and tram could still operate some controls.

[3] Tram 110 was the first one to be put back into service after the investigation of the crash, due to its small amount of damage.