A cable car accident in San Francisco resulted in seven people injured on Wednesday.
According to SF Gate, the cable car had 40 passengers when it was traveling on Powell street at 9mph. Suddenly the car came to an abrupt stop when it hit a metal object like a screw or bolt in a cable groove. The object caused the cable car to stop and the abrupt stop caused the passenger to fall forward.
Five people were taken to the hospital for their injuries. One of them was in serious condition. Two others who were injured did not go to the hospital as they had minor injuries.
The man in serious condition is in his late 80's and he hit his head. It is not clear if he hit the ground during the incident.
Also among the injured were the conductor and grip operator. The conductor had a concussion and severely bit his tongue. The grip operator injured his ribs and hands when he fell into the grip.
According to John Haley, director of transit for the Municipal Transportation Agency said the object that the cable car hit "does not appear to have come from a cable car, but we're still looking into it."
The cable car system is designed to alert someone when there is an obstruction, but no alarms went off in this case. The system is so sensitive that it set off alarms when a piece of paper was on the track, so Haley is not sure why the alarm didn't go off.
Other cable cars passed along the track without any issues just 10 minutes before.
Normal cable car service resumed on Wednesday afternoon.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
