4:00 PM: Two people were injured on Alcatraz Island this afternoon when the roof of a tram carrying visitors partially collapsed, striking the victims in the head and face, an Alcatraz Cruises spokeswoman said.
The accident was reported shortly after 1:30 p.m., a fire department dispatcher said.
It involved a tram for visitors with mobility problems or those who do not want to make the 1,300-foot walk from the ferry at the island’s base to the main cell house, Alcatraz Cruises spokeswoman Tegan Firth said.
The tram, which resembles a golf cart, was carrying passengers when it struck a pipe sticking out from a wall along the roadway, Firth said.
The pipe caused the front part of the tram’s roof to collapse, striking one passenger in the head and the other in the face, according to Firth.
Emergency crews responded and assisted the victims, whose injuries are not considered life-threatening, Firth said.
They were taken back on the ferry to Pier 33, where they were taken by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital, she said.
The company has continued service to and from the island this afternoon following the accident, Firth said.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
3:17 PM: Two people were injured on Alcatraz Island this afternoon in some sort of accident involving a tram for visitors with mobility problems, an Alcatraz Cruises spokeswoman said.
The accident was reported shortly after 1:30 p.m., a fire department dispatcher said.
It involved a tram that takes up to eight people from the ferry at the base of the island to the main cell house about 1,300 feet away, Alcatraz Cruises spokeswoman Tegan Firth said.
Firth did not yet have more details about what caused the accident.
Firefighters responded with a boat to take the two victims to the hospital, the dispatcher said.
Firth said the victims were conscious when they were being taken off the island, but neither she or fire officials had an update on their conditions as of about 2:30 p.m.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Come on, give it a try.
