Tour bus crashes at S.F.’s Union Square: 20 hurt

Seven people were reportedly injured after scaffolding collapsed when a tour bus made contact with it at the new Apple store location which is under construction at Stockton and Post streets on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. less Seven people were reportedly injured after scaffolding collapsed when a tour bus made contact with it at the new Apple store location which is under construction at Stockton and Post streets on Friday, Nov. 13, ... more Photo: Kathleen Aquino Photo: Kathleen Aquino Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Tour bus crashes at S.F.’s Union Square: 20 hurt 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

As hordes of horrified shoppers looked on, a tour bus careened wildly alongside San Francisco’s Union Square Friday afternoon, slamming into cars and people before plowing to a stop against construction scaffolding, leaving 20 people injured — seven critically.

The crash happened under sunny skies just before 3 p.m. on the 300 block of Post Street, while the popular tourist shopping area was clogged with people and traffic, police said.

Virgil Canga was in a BMW with his two brothers when the bus rammed a car behind him, sending it crashing into the BMW. Canga and one of his brothers clambered from the smoking wreckage while the third brother, flung around the back seat like a rag doll, had to be extricated by rescue workers and hauled away in a stretcher.

“I heard a big bang, it was really crazy and I smelled burning,” Canga said. “I had to crawl out the door.”

He sat at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital hours after the crash, waiting with his brother Manuel Canga to see their brother Luther Canga in the emergency room. Manuel had been driving with Virgil in the front seat and Luther in the back. The crash injured Luther’s ribs, chest and back, the brothers said.

“I know it’s Friday the 13th, but it’s a lucky day for us,” said Canga. “We survived. That’s the way I look at it.” Manuel — who is from Riverbank (Stanislaus County), while the brothers are from the Philippines — said doctors told him Luther “would be OK.”

Tommy Underwood, 19, peered out the door of his security-guard post at the Goyard store just in time to see the blue, double-deck City Sightseeing bus roar past, casting sparks as it ripped loose sagging overhead electric trolley lines and ping-ponged down the street, taking out PG&E power poles with sick crunching noises.

“I saw the tour bus going like 100 mph,” he said. “It just crashed into the carpentry. It was loud.

“It opened my eyes. It makes you appreciate life a little bit more."

Police said at least 30 people were aboard the bus as it first hit a bicyclist on the 500 block of Post, then a few chaotic seconds later crashed to a stop into 12-foot-high scaffolding at a construction site near Stockton Street. The scaffolding spewed pipes, wood and tarps onto the terrified passengers, some of whom were able to escape while those who were trapped deeper inside were left screaming for help.

When the bus finally came to a halt, four cars were crunched up against one another in a contorted heap at the nose of the bus, with two more cars alongside. Another tour bus — also from City Sightseeing — was hit by flying debris and rested parallel to its battered companion.

Firefighters dragged seven people from the mess of twisted metal, including two who were taken from under the original bus. They also had to free the driver and a passenger who had been sitting on the open top deck of the touring vehicle, officials said.

Adrian Nelson, 57, was walking on Post Street when he heard the whine of grinding metal behind him, followed by a huge whump — and then he turned around to meet chaos.

“That’s when I see the scaffold just coming toward me like a row of dominoes,” he said. “I said, ‘man, looks like an earthquake!’”

As he leaped out of the way of the falling scaffolding, he saw people jumping off the trashed bus and others running over to help.

People who said they were friends of the tour guide — whose name has not been released — told The Chronicle he was seriously cut in several places on his face and badly shaken, but was expected to recover. The guide was in good spirits but unable to talk, they said.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said about 75 firefighters and other emergency workers were rushed to the rescue. “It was dicey, but everyone worked really well together,” she said. Post Street alongside Union Square was closed for several hours while investigators looked over the scene and emergency crews cleaned up.

Cal-OSHA inspectors were probing the crash, she said, and though it appeared the bus was out of control, investigators had not determined a cause. Police Chief Greg Suhr said terrorism did not appear to be involved.

Among the most severely injured were two people in two different cars, two pedestrians, the cyclist, the bus driver and the tour guide, Hayes-White said. None of the passengers on the bus appeared to be critically injured, she said.

Seven adults and one minor were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, at least six with life-threatening injuries, said a hospital spokesman.

Four people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, and 16 were taken to hospitals, officials said. Among those were two victims — one critical and one stable — who were sent to St. Francis Hospital, and two others with minor injuries who went to California Pacific Medical Center, officials said.

Jean Michel, who attended school in France, said he was working at a clothing store on Post Street when he heard a loud bang. His thoughts went immediately to fears of terrorism, considering the terror attacks that happened earlier in the day that left more than 100 dead in Paris.

“We just heard about what happened in France,” he said. “We were afraid already.“

The permit for the company that operates the bus, City Sightseeing, was revoked for unknown reasons in 2013 but officials for the California Public Utilities Commission said the company was currently licensed and insured to operate the vehicle.

The CPUC reported investigating City Sightseeing between 2012 and 2014, primarily for insurance and ownership issues. More recently, the agency served a $1,000 citation in February 2014 for failure to produce records during an audit.

Chronicle staff writers Hamed Aleaziz, Vivian Ho, Jaxon Van Derbeken, Victoria Colliver and Nanette Asimov contributed to this report.

Jenna Lyons, Kevin Fagan and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com and srubenstein@sfchronicle.com.