SamTrans bus plows through parking lot at Serramonte Center in Daly City; 4 hurt
DALY CITY -- Four people were hospitalized and one was in critical condition after a bus collided with more than a dozen vehicles at the Serramonte Center in Daly City late Friday morning.
In was was initially described as a "multi casualty incident" by the North County Fire Authority, the crash was first reported shortly after 11:50 a.m.
A tweet by the agency shortly after 1 p.m. said that a county bus had crashed into multiple vehicles at the mall's south side parking lot near the Target store.
A SamTrans spokesperson told KPIX 5 Friday afternoon that the bus collided with at least 16 vehicles, resulting in multiple injuries. The agency said four people were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, with one person in critical condition.
Witnesses told KPIX 5 that they were stunned.
"I was here, I heard it, I turned and I knew it was an unusual sound," said Craig Thumas, a security guard. "And I looked and I saw the bus and it was coming down, it was wobbly. And then you could hear the crunching and the crashing."
"Well like everyone else, just questioning what happened, why is there a bus in the parking lot?" said Ed Maxwell of San Francisco.
John Lateef, also a San Francisco resident, told KPIX 5, "It's just so traumatic, everyone is getting injured, you know, it's just a downer, that's exactly what it is. Just hope and pray everyone would be okay."
There has been no word on what caused the collision or why the bus went out of control. SamTrans said it is working with authorities as they investigate the cause.
"Safety is always the highest priority at SamTrans, for our passengers, employees and the public. As we work to gather information about the cause of this incident, our hearts go out to those affected," SamTrans said in a statement.
SamTrans officials issued an update early Friday evening, saying that of the four people who were hospitalized, only two were still in the hospital for treatment and neither person sustained injuries that were life-threatening.
The agency also issued the following statement from SamTrans General Manager and CEO April Chan:
"On behalf of SamTrans, I want to express our deepest sympathies to those who were impacted today. The safety of our riders, employees, and the public is always our highest priority and we pride ourselves on providing safe and reliable service. We are working with authorities and actively looking into the cause of this incident to figure out what went wrong and how it can be prevented in the future. We will provide a more thorough update once that investigation is complete. Our hearts continue to be with those who were impacted today."