MULTIPLE people, including one child, are dead after a tour bus crash shut down all lanes of traffic on a highway Friday afternoon.
Photos showed a stark scene in Pembroke, New York, as crews rushed to save victims from the overturned bus.
Police said that 52 people were on board when it crashed, according to Spectrum News.
Several injuries were reported, with multiple people trapped under the bus, officials confirmed.
Passengers were also ejected from the bus, James O’Callaghan, a NYSP spokesperson, told reporters at the crash site.
He said that the bus had rolled, and he was assuming many people did not have their seatbelt on.
For unknown reasons, the bus had lost control, ended up in the median and then overcorrected, and went into the ditch.
The New York State Police told drivers to expect heavy delays after the accident shut down a part of I-90 in both directions.
Traffic was severely backed up as emergency vehicles surrounded the crash.
O’Callaghan said that the driver was alive, and was driving the bus from Niagara Falls to New York City.
The head of Mercy Flight, a service that provides emergency air transport to take patients to medical facilities, mentioned that helicopters were repeatedly traveling back and forth to the location.
At least two injured children and two injured adults had been flown via helicopter to local hospitals, the New York Times reported.
“I’ve been briefed on the tragic tour bus accident on the @NYSThruway,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted after the accident.
“My team is coordinating closely with @nyspolice and local officials who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz called the crash a “serious mass casualty bus accident” in an X post.
Social media photos showed emergency vehicles crowded on the entire interstate near the wrecked bus.
The crash happened near Buffalo.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the crash “heartbreaking.”
“I’m praying for everyone impacted. Grateful to our first responders on the scene working to rescue and help people.”
