After spending the morning with the breathtaking sights at Niagara Falls, a group of tourists got into a bus to return to New York City, not knowing an hour later, their bus would be on its side in the ditch of the New York State ThruWay.
The bus driver was derived and lost control, said civil servants, over -corresponding and rolling on the highway, near the city of Pembroke, east of Buffalo, about 40 miles east of Niagara Falls.
Some of the 52 passengers were cast out, others were trapped, the police said, while ground and air ambulances, state and local police and other first-respires hurried to the crash to help. Five people died and dozens were injured.
Many of the passengers, some from China and the Philippines, spoke little English, so together with the ambulances and the tow trucks, translators were brought in to help the police find out what happened.
The State Police released the names of the five people killed in the crash on Saturday and identified them as Shankar Kumar JHA, 65, from Madhubani, India; Pinki Changrani, 60, from East Brunswick, New Jersey; Xie Hongzhuo, 22, Van Beijing, China and a student at Columbia University; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, and Jian Mingli, 56, who are both inhabitants of Jersey City, New Jersey.
“This heartbreaking loss is deeply felt in our community,” said a spokesperson for Columbia University in a statement about Hongzhuo. “We are in close contact with her family and offer them our full support.”
The driver of the bus that survived was also identified as Bin Shao, 55, van Flushing, New York, said the State Police.
People who saw the aftermath of the wreck told CNN branch Wham Glas and the possessions of people were spread on the highway.
“It was certainly heartbreaking to see,” Powell Stephens told Wham after he drove through the crash on his way home to Medina from Buffalo. “There were many people who embraced each other. It seemed that people break down.”
First Responders are working on saving victims on the scene of a tour bus that crashed and rolled on the New York State ThruWay on Friday. – Libby March/Buffalo News/AP
This is what we know.
Passengers thrown while the bus was over
The bus drove at full speed and hit no other vehicles, but lost the control of the median, said spokesperson for the state of the state of New York James O'Callaghan.
The bus crashed just after 12:20 and was badly damaged. Most passengers did not wear safety belts, the authorities said, and several were thrown out of the bus, while some inside were stuck when the first response cried the stage to save them.
The passengers ranged in age from 1 to 74 years old and no children were killed, said the State Police, a previous statement revised that they believed that there was one child's impatality.
Dozens of vehicles were stuck on the busy Interstate when the authorities stopped both eastern and western lanes to respond to the crash. Both lanes were reopened later in the day.
The tour bus involved in the crash was dragged into the Nysp barracks for further research. – Tina Macintyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
Hospitals treated Massa -Victims
Four regional hospitals received patients from the accident on Friday afternoon, at least two of whom were told that they are ready for a large number of patients who all come at the same time.
At least 47 people were brought to the hospitals, some by the air, with a series of injuries from criticism to small, of main and internal injuries and broken bones, while others were considered medically stable.
The Mercy Flight Medical Transport Service said that his three helicopters and three of other services have transported people from the crash site, according to the Associated Press.
Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo revised the number of patients who received it to 21 and said that seven were fired on Friday. Two extra patients are expected to be fired on Saturday. The remaining patients are in a stable state, including five patients who are on the trauma -intensive care of the hospital, the hospital said.
“We were able to take care of all patients very quickly,” said Dr. Jennifer Pugh, chief of emergency medicine in the hospital.
Six victims were brought to the University of Rochester Medical Center by Air and Ground ambulance, said the Scott Hesel hospital spokesperson. “Two are treated for critical injuries and four are medically stable, including one pediatric patient,” he said.
Kaleida Health said in a statement to CNN affiliate Spectrum News Rochester that received 20 patients, including four adults in good condition for Buffalo General Medical Center, 11 adults and two children to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital and three children – in serious state – for Oishei Children's Hildrendren's. Most patients were in good or reasonable condition and at least one of those adults was fired, the health care network said.
According to the State Police, extra patients were taken to United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia.
The Chinese consulate general in New York told Staatsmedia CCTV on Friday that six Chinese nationals were on the bus. Five suffered minor injuries, while people are seriously injured and surgery, the outlet reported. The consulate did not identify victims or did not reveal where they were transported.
On Friday, too, the Filipino consulate general in New York issued a statement stating that “developments are monitoring” and will offer help with the affected Filipino subjects. The consulate encouraged all family members of possible victims to contact us.
CNN has contacted both consulates for more information.
A list of the passengers, based in Staten Island, confirmed that there were 54 people on board, including the driver and another employee of the Tour company, the police said in a statement.
On Saturday morning, Staatsstroopers, employees of Erie County Services and volunteers were set up at the American Red Cross of West -New York in the Family Assistance Center to help survivors and victims at the Amherst Senior Center. Translators who spoke different languages, including Arabic, Mandarin and Cantonese were also in the center.
The Red Cross said in a statement that they gave the crash “shelter, emotional support, spiritual care, meals, snacks and water”.
All family members connected to the passengers and the Assistance Center had turned off the activities, said the State Police on Saturday.
Police investigating the Rollover -Crash
“Different witnesses saw the bus lose control, enter the median and then cross to the southern shoulder and overthrow,” said the state police in a press release.
The cause of the crash has still been investigated, but mechanical failure and a limitation of the operator or intoxication are excluded, said Major Andre J. Ray, a troop commander of the State Police in New York, Friday afternoon.
It is too early to determine whether costs will be submitted, Ray said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is sending a GO team to the crash scene to conduct a safety investigation in coordination with the State Police and the Motor Carrier Compliance Bureau of the State Department of Transportation. Members of the team would arrive on Friday and Saturday, the NTSB said.
The NTSB carries out a security investigation that runs parallel to the investigation of the police led by the State Police, said NTSB board member Tom Chapman during a newsletter on Saturday.
“We are particularly interested in issues with regard to the protection of the occupants and the use of the safety belt, the performance of the driver, the activities and the supervision of the motorcycle,” he said.
A team of researchers who specialize in human performance will look at the qualifications of the driver and whether he was tired or distracted, said lead researcher Scott Parent.
The bus was equipped with a motor control unit with a data record capacity, which demonstrates what speed the bus went and other actions that the driver undertook before the crash, he said. Researchers are also interested in the question of whether the bus is equipped with Dash camera images and a GPS unit that may have recorded its speed, said older.
They will determine in the “extent to which the lack of safety belts may have been a factor in the issued of some passengers,” said Chapman. A recently approved law in the state of New York requires the use of safety belts on buses that were made after 2016, but the tour bus involved in the crash was made in 2005, he said, adding that it is not yet clear whether the law would apply in this case.
The NTSB research team will be on site for four to six days and a provisional report is expected to be released within 30 days, after which the final reports will be completed in 12 to 24 months, Chapman said.
The Tourbus was owned by M & Y Tour Inc. and based in Staten Island. It has no record of accidents or fatalities in the past two years, as well as a “satisfying” safety assessment, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. According to the office, the buses and directors of the company were inspected 60 times 60 times in the past two years.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul described the crash as “tragic” and said that First Responders “worked to save and offer help to all involved” in a post on X.
CNN has contacted the tour bus company for comment.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN's Mark Morales, Karina Tsui and Nic F. Anderson contributed to this report.
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