Five people are dead and several others injured after a tour bus carrying passengers back to New York City from Niagara Falls crashed on the New York State Thruway on Friday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Multiple people were ejected from the bus, and others remained trapped Friday afternoon, New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan told reporters at the scene. He said police believed at least one child was among those dead.
“As we’re progressing through this, we’re losing more people,” O’Callaghan said at the time. Hochul later confirmed the count of five people on social media.
O’Callaghan said most of the dozens of people on the bus were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino descent, and translators were helping with operations.
Police advised motorists of the crash in alerts at around 1 p.m. Friday. They confirmed in a statement the crash occurred on Interstate 90 eastbound between exits 48A and 49 in the Genesee County town of Pembroke, about 375 miles from Manhattan.
Police said several witnesses saw the tour bus — which had been carrying 52 passengers, including the driver — lose control, entering the median and overturning.
“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” O’Callaghan told reporters in the hours after the crash.
Most people didn’t have seatbelts on, O’Callaghan said. The bus was going at “full speed” but did not hit any other vehicles, he said.
The Thruway was closed in both directions Friday afternoon, with I-90 east and west closed between Exit 48A, in Pembroke, and 49, in Depew. Westbound lanes reopened around 5 p.m.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the Friday afternoon National Transportation Safety was en route to conduct an investigation.
As of Friday evening, authorities hadn’t yet released the names of anyone hurt or killed in the crash.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information.