Indian among 5 killed after tour bus returning from Niagara Falls crashes in New York: Police

New York, Aug 23 (PTI) At least five people, including an Indian national, have been killed when a tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 54 passengers crashed on a highway outside Buffalo, according to media reports.

The deceased were identified as Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, from Bihar; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey; Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, New Jersey; and Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, New Jersey, ABC News reported.

The deadly crash occurred on Interstate 90 in Pembroke, near Buffalo, at 12.22 pm (local time) on Friday according to New York State Police.

The bus was travelling back to New York City after visiting Niagara Falls, with 54 people on board, including two bus company employees, police said.

Most of the passengers were Indian, Chinese or Filipino, New York State Police Trooper James O'Callaghan said during a press briefing.

He said the bus was travelling eastbound when the "vehicle lost control, went into the median, over-corrected, and ended up in the ditch".

State police said Saturday the bus had overturned and rolled off the I-90 on the south embankment.

The crash forced the closing of the Thruway in both directions. The eastbound lanes, which had remained closed into the evening, were reopened around 8.30 pm, about eight hours after the crash, and the westbound lanes reopened just after 5 pm, The Buffalo News reported.

Multiple people were ejected or thrown around the bus when it overturned, according to New York State Police Troop T Commander Maj. Andre Ray.

Ray said that five people were pronounced dead at the scene while many are still hospitalised. However, there were no other patients in a "life-threatening status", he added.

The bus, carrying passengers aged from 1 to 74, was operated by M&Y Tour Inc. out of Staten Island, Ray said.

A child was initially believed to have been among the fatalities, but that was later determined to be false, Ray said.

Investigators have ruled out mechanical failure and impairment or intoxication of the driver as causes of the crash, Buffalo News reported.

Trooper O’Callaghan said every passenger on the bus had at least some sort of “cut, bruise or abrasion as an injury”.

He said that the bus was “extremely damaged” and that many passengers had been ejected from the vehicle when it crashed. The driver was “alive and well”, he added.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, in a statement posted on X, said that she had been “briefed on the tragic tour bus accident” and that her office was “coordinating closely” with the State Police and other agencies that were responding to the crash. PTI GSP GSP