One of the five people who were killed in a tourist bus crash near New York on Friday was identified as an Indian, reports said.
The bus carrying 54 passengers was returning to New York from Niagara Falls when it overturned and rolled off the I-90 on the south embankment in Pembroke.
The deceased were identified as Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, from Bihar; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey; Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of Beijing, China; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, New Jersey; and Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, New Jersey, ABC News reported.
A tour bus returning from a trip to Niagara Falls overturned in upstate New York, killing five people and injuring dozens of others, some of whom became trapped or ejected, police said. https://t.co/fbGyCpoGKV pic.twitter.com/CvUAhG0EF8
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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, New York State Police Trooper James O'Callaghan was quoted as saying by Reuters.
O'Callaghan said that most of the passengers on the bus were from India, China, and the Philippines. The vehicle was travelling eastbound when it lost control, went into the median, over-corrected, and ended up in the ditch, he added.
The Thruway was closed in both directions after the crash. The eastbound lanes were reopened around 8.30 pm, about eight hours after the crash.
New York State Police Troop T Commander Maj. Andre Ray said five people were pronounced dead at the scene, while many are still hospitalised.
As per a Buffalo News report, the investigators have ruled out mechanical failure and impairment or intoxication of the driver as causes of the crash.
