Crime & Safety
Toddler Among 3 Dead After Car Hits West Portal MUNI Station
"This is one of the worst pedestrian tragedies to ever occur on San Francisco streets," said Walk San Francisco Director Jodie Medeiros.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A third person has died and an infant is still suffering life-threatening injuries after a car struck a bus shelter near the West Portal Muni station, police said Sunday.
Four people were in the bus stop at Ulloa Street and Lenox Way on Saturday afternoon outside the West Portal Branch Library when an eastbound car struck the shelter about 12:13 p.m., said Lt. Mariano Elias, a fire department spokesman.
Two people in the shelter were pronounced dead at the scene and three people were taken to the hospital, including the driver of the car.
Find out what's happening in San Franciscofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Sunday, a woman who was struck succumbed to her injuries and died and an infant remained in critical condition.
"I've just visited the scene and it is heartbreaking," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a post at 3:54 p.m. Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter. "We will share more information when we can, but now our focus is on the victims and their families."
Find out what's happening in San Franciscofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian advocacy nonprofit, identified those killed on Saturday as a man and a toddler.
"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.
"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.
San Francisco police said an investigating is on-going, but they do not believe that traffic engineering was a factor in the collision.
The victims of Saturday's crash were the city's fifth and sixth pedestrian deaths this year, Walk San Francisco said. Sunday's death brings that number to seven.
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.
— Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
