2 killed, including child, 3 injured in San Francisco West Portal crash Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Two people were killed, including a child, and three were injured when a car struck a bus shelter near the West Portal Muni station Saturday afternoon, San Francisco firefighters said.
Four people were in the bus stop at Ulloa Street and Lenox Way, outside the West Portal Branch Library, when an eastbound Mercedes SUV struck the shelter about 12:13 p.m.
Two people in the shelter were pronounced dead at the scene. The other two in the shelter and the vehicle's driver were taken to a hospital, he said.
"I've just visited the scene and it is heartbreaking," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a post at 3:54 p.m. on X, formerly Twitter. "We will share more information when we can but now our focus is on the victims and their families."
Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian advocacy nonprofit, identified the dead as a man and a toddler and said the other two in the shelter were a woman and a baby, both critically injured.
"This is one of the worst pedestrian tragedies to ever occur on San Francisco streets," Jodie Medeiros, executive director of the organization, said in a statement.
Walk San Francisco will hold a vigil for the victims at the crash site at 5 p.m. Monday, she said.
West Portal Avenue is a major commercial corridor with significant foot traffic and the K and M Muni rail lines running on the surface, according to Walk San Francisco.
Serena Gomez was working at a hair salon near the scene when she heard a commotion and went outside to investigate.
"People were trying to block something," she said. "They were trying to cover what looked like a body. And so we ran over to see and there were bodies everywhere."
The SUV plowed into a utility pole but it appears that the car first hit a group of pedestrians waiting at the bus stop.
"Some witnesses were saying she was flying so fast, that she was going so fast," Gomez said. "And that there was a stroller, a baby in a stroller. It was not anything you would want to see."
S.F. Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson described the grim result.
"Unfortunately, two were just really, really critically injured and there was no hope for them," she said. "But we quickly transported the three others to the hospital."
Mayor London Breed arrived on scene and said those who witnessed the accident, including one Muni bus driver, were extremely shaken.
"You can imagine, children are involved here," she said. "And how traumatic that is for a lot of people who, especially, were here and may have witnessed this situation occur."
The city's Vision Zero program is designed to eliminate roadway conditions that could contribute to pedestrian deaths but there are some accidents that can't be foreseen and officials were warning the public not to jump to any conclusions on this one.
"We don't know if the driver had a medical emergency. That is all under investigation," said Fire Chief Nicholson. "So, this may have nothing to do with Vision Zero. Again, it's under investigation."
Mayor Breed said that if it is determined something about the street design contributed to the accident, there could be changes coming.
"It's time to fundamentally rethink areas like where this crash occurred, where thousands of people walk and cross and wait every day," Medeiros said.
The victims of Saturday's crash were the city's fifth and sixth pedestrian deaths this year, Walk San Francisco said.
That figure is more than double what it was at the same time last year, according to pedestrian advocates. In 2023, 17 people were killed while walking in San Francisco, the organization said.
The West Portal transit station was closed while police investigated, Muni said on its website.
The San Francisco Police Department's Traffic Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (415) 575-4444 or text TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.
KPIX correspondent John Ramos contributed to this report
