Three Saturday MUNI incidents leave several passengers injured, one pedestrian dead

SAN FRANCISCO – Three major traffic incidents that involved MUNI vehicles left one man dead, several passengers injured and delayed service for hours in different parts of the city Saturday.

The first accident happened in Chinatown after a 8X-Bayshore Express bus collided with a 30-Stockton trolley coach near Stockton and Clay Streets at around 11:00 a.m., authorities said.

The driver of the 8X bus said he left the coach to inspect a faulty wheelchair lift when the bus suddenly rolled backwards down Stockton St. until it collided into the side of the 30-Stockton bus. The bus rolled into a collection of street-side newspaper racks and a mailbox before it came to a complete stop on a sidewalk.

Police said several passengers aboard both buses were treated for minor abrasions. No one was seriously injured in the accident.

Traffic along the busy Stockton St. corridor was stopped for officials from the Municipal Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Police Department to conduct an investigation. Witnesses reported that it led to massive traffic tie-ups along the 30, 45, and 8X MUNI routes until early afternoon when the accident was cleared.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., Pacific Gas and Electric crews reported a downed wire that fell onto MUNI’s overhead trolley wires at 25th & Mission Sts. in the Mission District. The failure of the wire caused a large power outage that knocked out electricity to approximately 6,500 PG&E customers in the neighborhood.

It also forced MUNI buses on the 14-Mission and 49-Van Ness/Mission routes to detour around the area using overhead wires on South Van Ness Ave.

Passengers who waited for both routes told the Beat that they experienced longer than usual wait times for buses.

No one was injured in the power line collapse, police said.

The third incident of the day happened around 6:00 p.m. when a 47-Van Ness MUNI bus struck a pedestrian as it was pulling into the northbound bus stop outside a Walgreens drug store at Van Ness and Market Sts, authorities said.

The pedestrian, described as a male in his mid-twenties, was pronounced dead at the scene, they said. Witnesses said the man intentionally stepped in front of the bus when it approached the bus stop.

Traffic along the busy Van Ness Avenue corridor was stopped momentarily for an investigation by MUNI and Police. Authorities have not yet identified the man.

Contact the Beat at news@californiabeat.org.