Two people, including one child, were killed and three others were injured when a car crashed into a San Francisco bus stop Saturday, firefighters said.
Four people were at the bus stop at Ulloa Street and Lenox Way, outside the West Portal Branch Library, when an eastbound car struck the shelter about 12:13 p.m., said Lt. Mariano Elias, a San Francisco Fire Department Public Information Officer.
Two people at the bus stop were pronounced dead at the scene. The other two people at the bus stop and the vehicle's driver were injured and taken to the hospital, Elias said.
Officials did not release the victims' identities and ages, though Elias did say that of the two people who died, one was an adult and the other was a child.
Elias said that this scene was very difficult for many first responders to witness.
"I have children myself and our first responders do, it hits everybody at home," he noted.
This crash happened just outside the West Portal Muni Station, a nearby business corridor, and a school. Muni lines were rerouted Saturday and the intersection was closed as police combed through the scene. The mangled car remained on the scene for several hours and many neighbors stopped to look at the wreckage and to express prayers and condolences.
By Saturday night, community members left a small, candlelit memorial for the two victims at the intersection.
It's not clear yet what led up to this crash.
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Cornelio Godinez Velazquez told Telemundo 48 that he witnessed the crash and narrowly missed being hit.
"I saw the car coming at a high speed, then getting onto the sidewalk. I ran away," he said.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed posted about the crash on social media on Saturday afternoon.
"I've just visited the scene and it is heartbreaking," Breed said. "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, issued a statement after this crash, expressing grief and outrage.
"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.
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.
"Every person lost is absolutely devastating and tragic, but when you lose a child in a crash, that is absolute devastation and that should be the strongest call to action to our city’s leaders to make sure they are doing everything they can to make sure that our streets are safe," Medeiros emphasized.
Medeiros noted that it has now been ten years since San Francisco committed to becoming a Vision Zero city: vowing to stop all traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Medeiros said San Francisco has made strides over those ten years, including just this last week releasing a list of 33 new speed cameras to be installed in the city. But Medeiros also said this latest crash underscores the need for San Francisco to more aggressively use the tools it has to stop traffic deaths.
"Zero fatalities, zero serious injuries, that’s the absolute baseline of what we need in San Francisco, for all of us, and it’s what we deserve," she said.
Some San Franciscans also told NBC Bay Area on Saturday that they feel concerned about pedestrian safety in the city.
Arianna Rivera, whose commute was impacted by this crash, says that she has been worried about cars she's seen coming quickly through the West Portal area.
"It's been a long-time problem with Muni having this hub here with so many cars going through," Rivera said.
The West Portal transit station was closed while police investigated, however, it was reopened and trains continued running by Saturday evening.
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.
Bay City News contributed to the report.
