Explosion near S.F. shopping mall

CROCKER GALLERIA EVACUATED

By Kellie Schmitt and Elise Ackerman

Mercury News

Police evacuated the Crocker Galleria after an explosion rattled the upscale retail center in San Francisco's financial district at 9:54 a.m. prompting fears -- which quickly proved unfounded -- that the city was under terrorist attack.

Instead, Pacific Gas & Electric said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a fault in an underground transformer in front of the Polo Ralph Lauren store on Kearny Street.

Tom DeMartini, 44, of San Francisco was sitting in a truck nearby when the blast occurred. ``I saw the sidewalk lifted and flames jumped up,'' he recalled.

Across the street, Wen Batiz-Vegas saw flames shooting up from a manhole. ``I just heard a boom and shattering glass,'' said the 40-year-old network administrator.

``Police were yelling: `Get off the block!''' said Alvin Kimbell Andrews, 43, who works as a security guard at 153 Kearny Street. ``I thought it was terrorism.''

Hundreds of people milled around the Union Square area as police blocked off the area where the explosion occurred. There was at least one reported injury, a woman who suffered burns.

Chris Llorente told KNTV Channel 11 he felt the explosion and walked outside to see a plume of black smoke, flames and heard a woman screaming. Llorente said he could see the awning of the Ralph Lauren store on fire.

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