A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 52 people crashed on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 25 miles from Buffalo, on Friday. People inside were ejected as the windows shattered. Police confirmed multiple fatalities.
“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” Trooper James O’Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police, said. He further added that several children were on board.
Without revealing the identities of the victims, the official said most passengers were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino ethnicity.
Speaking about the cause of the accident, O’Callaghan said that a team is speaking with the driver, who is alive.
“The driver is alive and well. We’re working with him. We believe we have a good idea of what happened, why the bus lost control,” he noted. “For unknown reasons, the vehicle lost control, went into the median, over corrected and ended up in the ditch.”
“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.”
A 2023 state law in New York mandates that passengers wear seat belts on charter buses manufactured on or after November 28, 2016. It was not immediately clear whether the vehicle involved in Friday’s crash met that requirement.
The New York State Thruway Authority reported that a significant portion of the highway was closed in both directions, with motorists advised to steer clear of the scene.
“There was glass all over the road and people’s stuff all over the road,” Powell Stephens of Medina told The Buffalo News after passing the site. “Windows were all shattered.”
Governor Kathy Hochul said on X that she had been briefed on the “tragic tour bus accident” and confirmed her office was coordinating with police and local authorities in response.
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
