A pedestrian was struck by a Gray Line tour bus in San Francisco Sunday morning, and police said on Monday that the man was "clinging to life."
Officers and paramedics responded to a report of a crash involving a man in his 60s who had been hit by a private tour bus at the intersection of Seventh and Mission streets at about 8:10 a.m., San Francisco police spokesman Eric O'Neal said.
The victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with injuries that were potentially life threatening, O'Neal said.
The bus driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police. The crash remains under investigation. Police have not said whether the driver will be facing charges.
A witness told NBC Bay Area that the tour bus was turning left on Seventh just as the light was turning red.
"..I know that the light was changing red and he [the bus driver] was trying to make the light," witness Robert Roman said. "I think he was going faster than he should have been going.
Police are expected to review the footage of red light cameras at the intersection to determine what happened.
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The tour bus is operated by a tour company called "Gray Line of San Francisco." The company told NBC Bay Area that in addition to the driver, there were three sightseers on the bus.
A company spokesperson provided NBC Bay Area with the following statement in response to Sunday's accident: “Our company has been in business for 25 years with a perfect safety record, to my knowledge this is the first incident as such. Of course our first concern is for those involved. As i mentioned we are fully cooperating with the authorities.
Last year 21 pedestrians were killed in San Francisco, the highest number since 2007. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee recently unveiled a citywide awareness campaign aimed at getting drivers to slow down and pdedestrians to pay more attention to their surroundings.
NBC Bay Area staff contributed to this report.
