Tour bus rollover on New York state highway leaves 5 dead, dozens injured

A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls, N.Y., with 54 people on board crashed and rolled on its side Friday on an interstate highway, killing five passengers and injuring many others, authorities said.

State police Maj. Andre Ray said at an evening news conference that the driver apparently became distracted, lost control and over-corrected before the bus went into the right shoulder and flipped over shortly before 12:30 p.m. ET on the eastbound side of Interstate 90 in Pembroke, N.Y., about 40 kilometres east of Buffalo.

He did not say how the driver became distracted and noted that the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Ray said the passengers ranged in age from one to 74. Multiple people were ejected from the bus during the crash, and five — all adults — were pronounced dead at the scene, Ray said.

Many others became entrapped in the wreck and were rescued. Dozens were taken to hospitals, though Ray said it didn’t appear any other people had life-threatening injuries.

Bus driver co-operating with police

“An absolute tragedy took place,” Ray said. “And first and foremost, our thoughts, prayers and hearts go out to those involved, their friends and their families.”

Ray said a preliminary investigation ruled out mechanical failure or driver impairment. According to officials, the driver survived the crash and was co-operating with police. No charges had been filed as of Friday evening, Ray said.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to New York to investigate the crash.

The Mercy Flight medical transport service said its three helicopters and three more from other services transported people from the crash site. Hospitals in the region said they evaluated or treated more than 40 people. Injuries ranged from head trauma to broken arms and legs.

Two people who needed surgery at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo were expected to recover, said Dr. Jeffrey Brewer, the hospital’s chief of surgery.

State police said the bus was owned by M&Y Tour Inc., in the New York City borough of Staten Island. A message seeking comment was left at a phone listing for the company.

M&Y Tour has a “satisfactory” safety rating and no record of accidents or fatalities over the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Officials inspected the company’s buses and drivers 60 times over the past two years, the agency said.

Most weren’t wearing seat belts: police

At an earlier news conference, Trooper James O’Callaghan said it appeared most people on the bus were not wearing seat belts.

In response to another bus crash in New York in 2023, a state law requires seat belt use on charter buses built on or after Nov. 28, 2016. The age of the bus in Friday’s crash wasn’t immediately known.

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. The westbound lanes were reopened later in the day.

People who saw the aftermath of the wreck said glass and people’s belongings were scattered on the highway.

“It was certainly heartbreaking to see,” Powell Stephens, of Medina, N.Y., told WHAM-TV after he drove by the crash. “There was a lot of people embracing each other. It looked like people were breaking down.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the accident a tragedy in a post on the social platform X. She said she was briefed on the crash and that her office was working with police and local officials.

“Our hearts are with their loved ones during this difficult time,” the governor said of the victims.