3 Injured, 2 Critically In Horrific San Francisco Mission District Crash
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF ) -- Fire and police units in San Francisco Wednesday afternoon were at the scene of a major crash with multiple injuries at the intersection of Mission and 23rd Street, according to authorities.
San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Jonathan Baxter confirmed that at around 4:20 p.m., a crash involving at least three victims had stopped traffic on Mission Street in both directions between 22nd and 24th Streets.
Authorities later confirmed that two of the injured were in critical condition and were at San Francisco General Hospital.
San Francisco police said that a speeding Toyota Prius traveling westbound on 23rd Street was turning right onto Mission Street against a red light when it struck a pedestrian. The vehicle then struck the back of a Muni bus and two exiting passengers as the car went onto the sidewalk.
"Guy makes a right hand turn, hits the bus. The bus continues. The driver goes onto the sidewalk. The bus goes to where it is right now…the passenger disembarks. The car is on the sidewalk and mows that person over," said SFPD Sgt. Frank Harrell.
The driver and his passenger initially fled in the Prius, but later returned to the scene and were detained, police said. The driver is suspected of being impaired at the time of the incident. Both the driver and passenger were being evaluated medically.
Witness Miguel Garcia was emotional talking about the horrific incident.
"I saw the accident really, really close to me. So I see...when that happened," he said through tears.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management tweeted that the intersection should be avoided. It was closed down for much of the evening, but was reopened at 10:13 p.m, according to the SF DEM. They said to expect residual traffic delays throughout the night.
Muni lines were being rerouted around the closure.
The SFPD Traffic Collision Investigation Unit (TCIU) is investigating. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the SFPD 24 Hour Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with "SFPD."