At least five people have died and dozens more were injured following a tour bus crash on I-90 roughly 25 miles east of Buffalo.
The crash occurred Friday around 12:40 p.m. on the New York State Thruway near Pembroke in Genesee County, as the bus was traveling back to New York City from Niagara Falls.
New York State Police said there were 54 people onboard the bus when it rolled over after hitting a median and wound up in a ditch on the side of the road. The passengers ranged in age from 1 to 74 years old, and most of were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino ethnicity.
Neither the names nor ages of those who were killed had been released as of Friday night. While police initially believed at least one child had died in the wreck, authorities later said no children were known to have been among the five fatalities that had since been confirmed.
However, everyone on board the bus suffered some level of injury, according to state police. Most of the passengers were not wearing their seatbelts and many had been ejected from the vehicle as the windows shattered.
Several people, including children, remained trapped inside the bus hours after the accident.
The Erie County Medical Center, a level 1 adult trauma center, reported receiving 24 patients from the scene of the crash, which hospitals officials believe to be the largest number of single-incident trauma patients they’ve seen in 25 years.
ECMC Chief of Surgery Jeffrey Brewer told reporters his staff was treating victims with head injuries and broken extremities.
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Around 20 other people were reportedly being treated at different hospitals in the region, with six medical helicopters transporting people from the scene.
In a statement on social media shortly after the crash, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’d been “briefed on the tragic tour bus accident on the @NYSThruway ” and was “coordinating closely with @nyspolice and local officials who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was “heartbroken for all those we’ve lost and all those injured” and thanked first responders for their ongoing efforts.
As of Friday evening, it was not clear what caused the bus to overturn, though police do not believe mechanical failure or intoxication were factors. New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan said the driver appeared to have “overcorrected” after going into the median for unknown reasons.
The bus was traveling at full speed at the time of the crash, but did not hit any other vehicles.
M & Y Tour Inc., the Staten Island-based company that operates the bus, was cooperating with investigators, O’Callaghan said, as was the driver, who is “alive and well.”
No changes had been filed as of Friday.
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