SAN FRANCISCO — A kite surfer at a San Francisco beach was caught in a huge gust of wind and dragged across a parking lot on to a highway, where he was hit by a car and critically injured, police said.

The man was setting up his rig at the edge of the water on Friday afternoon at Ocean Beach when the wind caught him and took him onto the Great Highway, city police said in a statement.

Winds of about 35 mph with gusts approach 50 mph were blowing on the beach at the time.

Steve Sutherland, 54, was visiting from Minnesota and said he was watching when the huge gust came.

“It picked him up and took him toward the road,” Southerland said. “He bounced a couple times, and then I lost sight of him. But whatever happened after that it wasn’t good.”