A woman has been left with multiple injuries after she was hit by a car in San Francisco, resulting in her being 'pinned' under a driverless car.
The unnamed individual is thought to have been hit by someone, with the vehicle then 'launching' her in front of a driverless car.
The self-driving car, which has since been revealed as a Cruise robotaxi, then pinned the woman underneath it.
She was later rushed to hospital where she is now recovering from 'multiple traumatic injuries'.
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The current state of her condition remains unknown.
The horrifying ordeal occurred on Monday, October 2, around 9:30pm, and police are now on the hunt for the driver who was responsible for the initial hit.
Apparently the vehicle and driver weren't present at the scene upon the authorities' arrival.
"We believe that another vehicle that was not an autonomous vehicle (AV) may have been initially involved in the collision, but the vehicle or driver were not present at the scene during our investigation," the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
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Sharing further information about the accident, the San Francisco Fire Department described the woman being 'pinned beneath an autonomous vehicle' and is now 'suffering multiple traumatic injuries'.
Cruise Self Driving Cars is working closely with police in their investigation and has issued a statement on the matter.
"At approximately 9:30 pm on October 2, a human-driven vehicle struck a pedestrian while traveling in the lane immediately to the left of a Cruise AV," it said in a post shared to X, formerly known as Twitter.
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"The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV.
"The AV then braked aggressively to minimize the impact. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, and at the request of the police the AV was kept in place."
Cruise added: "Our heartfelt concern and focus is the wellbeing of the person who was injured and we are actively working with police to help identify the responsible driver."
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The driverless vehicle was unoccupied at the time of the incident.
The ordeal comes at a crucial time for Cruise, with the company currently trying to increase the number of its cars on California's roads.
In August, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Cruise's request to expand its AV's to San Francisco.
But Monday's ordeal marks the second incident involved a Cruise robotaxi of late, with another of the firm's cars colliding with a San Francisco fire truck on August 15.
Niamh Shackleton