San Francisco tour bus crash leaves 19 people injured

At least 20 people were injured when a double-decker tour bus crashed into several cars and careened into a scaffolding in downtown San Francisco on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Union Square is the location of several high-end stores, including Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as Union Square Park and its skating rink. That scaffolding is part of construction at the site of the new Apple store.

Several upscale hotels are also located near the square, which was crowded with shoppers and tourists. Police say he hit a bicyclist, who is in critical condition, before hitting several vehicles and scaffolding which then fell on more cars and people.

It also knocked down several power lines used to propel the city’s fleet of electrical buses.

Firefighters were forced to extricate the two people under the bus as well as one trapped on the top deck, Hayes-White said. As many as 30 people were believed to be on board when the vehicle went out of control.

The driver was conscious and coherent after being pulled from the wreckage, however there has not been enough information provided to assess the cause.

Andraychak said it was too soon in the police investigation to know whether the driver, who was among those injured in the crash, could face criminal charges.

She said the incident started around 3 p.m. local time.

Wrecked cars were scattered along the bus’ path.

The Examiner’s Chris Roberts cites Union Square staffers who “say [the] double decker tour bus ‘lost control, ‘ ran into traffic”.

“Everybody was asking what’s going on”, said Emam, a Bay Area resident in San Francisco on personal business.

“There were still ambulances and fire trucks and paramedics with stretchers coming up”, she said. At St. Francis Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Robin O’Connor said that of three people admitted Friday night, one man remained in stable condition Saturday morning. Officials say a few victims were treated at the scene but others, including the driver and the bicyclist, were taken to the hospital.

At tour bus crashed in San Francisco left 19 injured, including five critically, on November 13, 2015.