Tour bus rolls over on New York highway, killing 5 and injuring dozens

A tour bus carrying more than 50 people veered out of control and rolled over on an Upstate New York highway on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.

At least one child was among the dead, according to trooper James O'Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police. He told reporters near the scene that most of the passengers were Asian or of Asian descent, including Chinese, Indians and Filipinos.

The accident took place on Interstate 90, part of the New York State Thruway, in Pembroke, New York, about 30 miles (48 km) east of Buffalo, while the bus was en route from Niagara Falls to New York City.

The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate the accident, the agency said.

Multiple passengers ended up trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated, while others were thrown from the bus when it rolled over across the highway before coming to rest on its side in a ditch along the shoulder of the road, O'Callaghan said.

The driver, who survived the accident, lost control while the bus was moving at "full speed", he said, causing the vehicle to career into the median and then flip over. No other vehicles were involved.

The driver was cooperating with investigators, O'Callaghan said, and police were in contact with the bus company, which was not publicly identified.

The bus was carrying 51 passengers, not counting the driver, and every person aboard suffered some kind of injury, O'Callaghan said.

An online statement by state police said "several fatalities" were confirmed. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on the social platform X that police had confirmed that "five lives were tragically lost".

After the crash, authorities closed the highway in both directions, causing massive traffic delays at the onset of one of the last weekends of the summer vacation season.

Reuters