SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Several dozen people were injured when two San Francisco light-rail trains collided Saturday afternoon at the West Portal Station, authorities said.
Forty-seven people were taken to hospitals - four with what appeared to be severe injuries - when a San Francisco Municipal Railway L train rear-ended a K train at the boarding platform about 2:30 p.m., officials said. The operator of the L train was among the seriously injured.
"This is probably one of the largest multiple-casualty incidents in recent years (in San Francisco)," said Pat Gardner, a deputy chief with the San Francisco Fire Department. Gardner said about 40 rescue workers were at the scene.
Witnesses said the westbound L train barreled into the K train as it emerged from a tunnel connecting downtown San Francisco to the city's western neighborhoods.
The front of the L train was smashed, while the K train suffered less damage.
Rescue workers set up a triage system to isolate the most severely injured, bandaging their heads and immobilizing their necks on stretchers before they were carted to waiting rescue vehicles.
The cause of the crash, which occurred at one end of San Francisco's vibrant West Portal shopping district, was under investigation.