PEMBROKE, N.Y. (AP) — A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 51 passengers crashed and rolled Friday on an interstate highway, killing and injuring multiple people, police said.
The bus apparently lost control on I-90 near Pembroke, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Buffalo. People inside were ejected as the windows shattered.
“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police, adding that children were on board.
Several ambulances and medical helicopters transported people from the crash. O’Callaghan said most passengers were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino ethnicity, and translators were being brought to the scene.
The bus was traveling eastbound when it went into the median and then ended up in a ditch on the right side of the road, O'Callaghan said.
“The driver is alive and well,” he said. “We’re working with him. We believe we have a good idea of what happened, why the bus lost control."
The Mercy Flight air medical transport service said its three helicopters were transporting people from the crash site to area hospitals. Erie County Medical Center, a Buffalo hospital known as ECMC, said it had at least eight patients by 2:10 p.m.
“It’s a full-size tour bus. Heavy amount of damage," O’Callaghan said. “Most people I’m assuming on the bus did not have a seat belt on, that is the reason why we have so many ejected people on this bus.”
Three other helicopters from other services were being called to the scene, as well as ambulances from multiple area agencies, Mercy Flight president Margaret Ferrentino said.
“It’s a very active scene,” Ferrentino said. “At this time we’re praying for the victims.”
The New York State Thruway Authority said a lengthy stretch of the roadway had been shut down in both directions and drivers were being urged to avoid the area.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X that she was briefed on the "tragic tour bus accident” and that her office was working with police and local officials.
“There was glass all over the road and people’s stuff all over the road,” Powell Stephens of Medina told The Buffalo News after he drove by the crash. “Windows were all shattered.”
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of Trooper James O’Callaghan's last name.
The Associated Press
