A major collision occurred Tuesday night at the intersection of Polk and Hayes streets that took the life of a pedestrian, and one of the drivers involved reportedly fled the scene on foot.
The collision happened around 7 p.m., as KPIX reports, involving a truck/SUV and a sedan, and a resident of the 20th floor of Fox Plaza tells the Chronicle she heard a "very loud crash." Reports on Twitter suggest that the SUV may have run a red light, though the cause of the collision remains under investigation.
Other reports suggest that two people were ejected from the SUV when the crash occurred, but the official word seems to be that the fatality was a pedestrian at the intersection.
There's an absolutely horrible crash at Polk and Hayes, which appears to have been fatal (these photos are tightly cropped to avoid including the worst of it).
— Zach Lipton (@zachlipton) May 19, 2021
We can't keep doing this. pic.twitter.com/BHfwe6kqxd
Latest info on the deadly crash this evening at Polk & Hayes in #SanFrancisco:
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) May 19, 2021
Truck ran red light on Polk and clipped a car in the intersection at Hayes. The truck flipped (hearing 4x) ejecting two passengers, one was transported, one is dead, the truck's driver fled on foot. https://t.co/sOSWPqRcR3
Supervisor Matt Haney reported on Twitter that one injured victim, a man in his 30s, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. "Awaiting more details. So awful and tragic," he said. "The driver of the truck may have fled," he added, via conversations with emergency personnel at the scene.
Various commenters on the event are suggesting that speed bumps for the area, and others are blaming no-right-turn-on-red rules around the Tenderloin, for some reason.
We'll update this post as we learn more.
Update: The victim who died at the scene has been identified as a female pedestrian, 29-year-old Lovisa Svallingson. As Bay City News reports, Svallingson and the man in critical condition were both pedestrians when they were struck by the Chevrolet Avalanche truck after the truck struck an Audi A6 in the intersection. Two other people in the Audi were also taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries. The driver of the Avalanche was seen fleeing the scene and police have not released a suspect description.
Top image: Zach Lipton/Twitter