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| Deaths and Injuries in Greyhound Bus Accident |
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| 2006-08-19 |
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Jennifer Lee at New York Times
Several people were reported killed and many were injured when a Greyhound bus heading from New York City to Montreal drove off an Interstate highway last night and rolled over about one hour south of the Canadian border, Greyhound officials and the New York State police said.
Five people may have died, according to preliminary reports from the scene, said Trooper Ryan Bentley of the Westport barracks. The medical examiner was needed to give an official count, Trooper Bentley said.
The bus had 52 passengers on board in addition to the driver, said Kim Plaskett, a spokeswoman for Greyhound. It left the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan about 1 p.m. and made scheduled stops in Albany and Saratoga Springs.
The crash occurred near Elizabethtown about 6:45 p.m., about 110 miles north of Albany on Interstate 87, the Adirondack Northway, between Exits 30 and 31 The next scheduled stop would have been Plattsburgh.
Injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Elizabethtown, Glens Falls, Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga.
More than 30 passengers, including at least three children, were taken to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Medical Center in Plattsburgh, according to Mike Hildebran, a spokesman for the hospital. The hospital put itself in disaster mode, summoning off-duty medical personnel.
About half of those passengers were expected to be treated and released, Several had cuts, bruises, internal injuries and fractures, essentially “what you would expect from a rollover bus accident,” Mr. Hildebran said. “Actually it is surprising that it’s not worse than it is.” The passengers who were not seriously injured still had problems continuing on their journey to the Canadian border.
“For those that are being discharged, all of their belongings were on the bus, including, for many of them, their passports,” Mr. Hildebran said. “They are hung up here. We are working with Greyhound to accommodate them.”
Late last night, rescue workers were still trying to remove passengers from the bus, which had flipped upside down. Passengers were still arriving at the Plattsburgh hospital around midnight.
Greyhound set up an information hotline at 1-800-972-4583.
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