Driver Drowns as Truck Falls 135 Feet Into San Francisco Bay

A tractor truck rolling east over the San Mateo Bridge went out of control during commuting hours Friday and plunged 135 feet into San Francisco Bay, drowning the trapped driver in the cab, investigators reported. An unidentified passenger swam to safety unhurt.

The driver, his name withheld pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at Peninsula Hospital at 10:30 a.m., nearly two hours after the accident near the middle of the seven-mile-long bridge.

The victim, still strapped in, was lifted by a tow truck from about 20 feet of water with the cab after divers made repeated attempts to get him out of the vehicle. He was taken to the hospital by a Coast Guard helicopter but could not be resuscitated, the hospital reported.

The California Highway Patrol reported that the trailerless tractor was heading east about 8:30 a.m. when the vehicle hit the 3 1/2-foot-high concrete wall along the right lane. It scraped about 180 feet along the wall before it went over the side, the report said.

Coast Guard spokesman Ken Freeze said that at one point rescuers had hoped air trapped in the cab with the victim might have kept the man alive.

The accident disrupted heavy morning traffic for about two hours before the CHP opened one lane in each direction. But at 11:15 a.m. traffic was still backed up to Highway 101 on the west and Highway 880 on the east.