The five victims who died in a tour bus crash in western New York have been identified by state police. The victims included a Columbia University student from China, three New Jersey residents and a resident of India.
The crash took place near Exit 48A on the eastbound I-90 around 12:40 pm. The driver, with Staten Island-based M & Y Tour Inc., was taking 52 passengers and a tour guide from Niagara Falls to New York City.
Who were the victims?
The victims, who ranged from 22 to 65 years of age, have been identified as
- Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India
- Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey
- Xie Hongzhuo, 22, a Columbia University student from Beijing
- Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, New Jersey
- Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, New Jersey
State Police have identified the driver as Bin Shao, a 55-year-old from Flushing, New York. Police, who have ruled out mechanical failure as a cause of the tragedy, said Shao showed no signs of impairment.
“The bus exited the roadway into the median then abruptly corrected causing the bus to overturn and roll off the I-90 on the south embankment. Multiple passengers were ejected, trapped with 5 deceased at the scene. Multiple individuals were taken to Erie County Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban and UMMR in Batavia. Mercy Flight and numerous EMS and first responders assisted at the scene,” New York State Police said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“The bus exited the roadway into the median then abruptly corrected causing the bus to overturn and roll off the I-90 on the south embankment. Multiple passengers were ejected, trapped with 5 deceased at the scene. Multiple individuals were taken to Erie County Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban and UMMR in Batavia. Mercy Flight and numerous EMS and first responders assisted at the scene,” New York State Police said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}The cause of the crash is being investigated. However, officials said the driver got distracted, causing the bus to swerve and roll over in a ditch, according to the New York Post.
“It first veered left into the median and then moved right, back across the travel lanes, rolling over off the right hand shoulder of the highway,” said National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas Chapman during a news conference on Saturday, August 23.
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The NTSB said it is doing its own safety investigation, “parallel” to the police probe. The crash took place near Pembroke in Genesee County. On the stretch of highway where the accident happened, the speed limit is 65 miles per hour.
Investigators said they have recovered a camera at the scene, and it is believed to be from the bus. They believe it could show them what had happened at the time of the crash. “Our human performance investigator is going to look at the driver, particularly fatigue, distraction and driver qualifications,” said NTSB Senior Highway Factors Engineer Scott Parent.