Multiple fatalities, including children, have been reported in the serious crash of a tour bus in Upstate New York on Friday afternoon, Aug. 22, police say.
A chartered tour bus crashed on Interstate 90 in Pembroke, New York, the New York State Police said in a news release. Returning to New York City from Niagara Falls, the bus lost control, entered the median, and crossed the southern shoulder before overturning, multiple witnesses reported to state police.
Mercy Flight helicopters and EMS units transported 19 patients to local hospitals, according to agency officials, and the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo has received 24 patients, hospital officials told the media.
“I’ve been here 25 years … This is probably the most trauma patients we’ve had from one incident in my career here in Buffalo,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Samuel Cloud said during the Aug. 22 press conference.
Here’s what we know about the crash so far.
The crash occurred on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 22, along Interstate 90 in Pembroke between Rochester and Buffalo, according to a New York State Police news release.
The New York State Police confirmed that 52 people, including the bus driver, were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Eight Mercy Flight helicopters transported five patients to local hospitals — two to the ECMC in Buffalo, one to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo and one to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, agency officials said. Seventeen ground division Mercy Flight EMS units transported six more patients, and nine were transported by other means.
Of the 24 patients at the ECMC, two are being treated in the trauma ICU, two others are in the operating room, and the remaining 20 are receiving treatment in the center’s emergency department, officials said.
After the crash, all lanes on Interstate 90 were closed and travelers were told to expect delays, the New York State Police said. Emergency personnel, including state police, first responders and medical helicopters, remain on the scene.
As of 5:08 p.m. ET, the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 had reopened to traffic, the New York State Thruway Authority said in a Facebook post.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
