News: Tour Bus Crash in New York City
(Long Island, N.Y.) The death toll for the New York City tour bus crash is now at fifteen. The incident occurred Saturday morning at roughly five-thirty. At least thirty passengers were on board after coming back from a trip to the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.
The bus was traveling southbound on I-95 on its route to Chinatown in lower Manhattan. It had left the casino at roughly a quarter to four that morning and was approaching the New England Thruway at the time of the accident. Many passengers were sleeping at the time of this fatal crash.
While the case is ongoing, it’s still unsure what exactly caused one of the deadliest crashes authorities have investigated. Some accounts say that the driver had been speeding and swerving prior to impacting the sign for the Hutchinson River Parkway. The forty-year-old driver of the bus says that a tractor-trailer clipped his vehicle, causing him to slam into the sign.
The bus skidded three-hundred feet along the guard rail before flipping over. The pole struck the top of the bus with enough force to cut the bus in half, while at least seven passengers were trapped inside the back end of the bus. Alternate reports claim that the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel and say that there is no evidence that the truck ever contacted the tour bus.
Emergency responders say they had to cut a hole in the roof of the bus and remove seats to get to passengers. Most described the scene horrifically, saying it was a bloody mess of torn bodies and shattered glass. Wounded passengers were screaming and moaning while first responders and drivers of other vehicles came to assist.
Some of the injuries included brain trauma, skull and rib fractures, internal bleeding and lung contusions. Many had to undergo surgery later that day while most of the injured were stationed at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Among the deceased were eight men and six women, all of whom perished from blunt force trauma.
The name of the Brooklyn-based tour bus company was World Wide Tours. The company has been responsible for two other accidents causing injuries in the past two years. The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the company and details about the accident to review the safety regulations for discount tour buses; there may be cause to enforce stricter laws on driver fatigue.
The camera mounted on the bus as well as the engine-control module and GPS from the tractor-trailer will be analyzed while this case takes on the nature of a criminal investigation. The driver of the tractor-trailer says that the tour bus zoomed past him before slamming into a lane and warning bumps where it swerved and flipped in the air.
The bus was a 1999 Prevost and the driver will undergo blood tests to determine whether drugs and alcohol were factors in the crime. Friends of the driver claim he is a courageous man who is devastated over the tragedy. They say he had once rescued a family from a fire.
The fifteenth victim was a seventy-year-old man who succumbed to his injuries at seven-thirty while being assisted at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx. Most of the injuries occurred when the impact of the collision caused passengers to be hurled to the front of the bus. The Family Assistance Center has helped provide families of the passengers with information regarding their livelihood.
