Hit-and-run crash kills Lyft driver, passenger

Two people who died in a hit-and-run collision in San Francisco’s Bayview District early Sunday morning have been identified as a Lyft driver and passenger, and the suspect remained at large as of Monday afternoon. The city’s medical examiner’s office has identified Syed Waseem Ali, 26, of Fremont, and Sela Henriquez, 49, of San Francisco, as the victims who died in the collision reported at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday at Third Street and Paul Avenue.

A silver Mercedes-Benz was speeding on Third Street and didn’t stop at a red light at the Paul Avenue intersection, causing a collision with a silver Toyota sedan, police said.

Ali, who was driving the Toyota and had Henriquez as a passenger via the Lyft ride-hailing service, were pronounced dead after the crash. Two passengers from the Mercedes were taken to a hospital but are expected to survive. The driver fled on foot, leaving the vehicle behind, and had not been arrested as of early Monday afternoon, police said. A description of the suspect has not been released.

A GoFundMe page has been created on behalf of the family of Ali to raise money to transport his body and belongings back to Hyderabad, India, where he was from.

The account at
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraising-for-waseem-ali039s-funeral-transfer had raised more than $50,600 as of Monday afternoon.

Lyft issued a statement following the crash:

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic accident and resulting loss of life. Our thoughts are with the victims’ family and friends during this difficult time. We have reached out to the rider’s family to offer our support and are working to contact the driver’s family,” the company said.