Woman injured after being trapped under N-Judah train in Inner Sunset

A woman who was briefly trapped under a San Francisco Municipal Railway N-Judah train Thursday afternoon has been taken to a hospital with minor injuries, fire and Muni officials said.

The incident was reported at 1:23 p.m. at Second Avenue and Irving Street.

Police said the woman was trying to get through to the other side of the light rail vehicle by stepping over the coupling in between trains with her dog, a very dangerous manuever.

"As she went over to cross, apparently the dog couldn't make it over the coupling of the light rail vehicle," said SFPD Officer Carlos Manfredi. "She attempted to lift the dog up to take him over the coupling and at that point that's when the light-rail vehicle proceeded to move westbound on Irving Street."

Police said the woman became trapped between the cars and was dragged a short distance, ending up stuck underneath the train.

Firefighter rescue teams had to use jacks to lift the train up before the woman could be freed.

Some witnesses told us they didn't expect the woman to survive.

"I thought she was gone already," said witness Ernie Strada. "When I told her what happened, she said 'I'm still breathing.'"

As the rescue continued, a big crowd gathered to watch firefighters complete the delicate job.

"It took about maybe 15-to-20 minutes for the crews to finally lift the train enough to remove her," said witness Megan Sullivan. "As they slid her out a roar of applause just went up from both sides. There were probably  almost a hundred people while the process happened."

The victim was freed at 1:47 p.m., she said.

Muni spokesman Paul Rose said the woman suffered bruises and scratches to her arm and leg. She was expected to survive.

Muni service through that area has been disrupted, and shuttle buses were set up to accommodate riders, Rose said.