28 people hospitalized after tour bus en route to Niagara Falls crashes

CHILI, N.Y. (WHAM) — A bus with more than two dozen passengers aboard rolled over on a highway in upstate New York on Thursday morning, critically injuring one person and sending others to hospitals, police said.

A portion of Interstate 490 closed after emergency crews responded to 490 West around 7:10 a.m. when a tour bus flipped with people trapped.

They found the bus rolled on its side, according to Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter, and found passengers walking alongside 490.You train for these things, but when you pull up and actually see the bus turned on its side and people literally walking in a state of confusion on the side of the road, trying to figure out what’s happened to them as they were just thrown about inside a bus, it was surreal,” Baxter said. “It was things you train for but things you don’t expect to see in your life.The FlixBus tour bus — operated by Rockland, Massachusetts-based Tribal Sun Bus Company — had left New York City around midnight, made stops along the way to drop people off and was heading for Niagara Falls, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s unclear what caused the crash, but the bus appeared to be the only vehicle involved. A criminal investigation is underway, which Chief Deputy Michael Fowler said is simply to ensure thoroughness.

“Please don’t let that mislead you,” Fowler said. “We don’t believe there is criminality involved, but that’s the type of investigating we do — and we are absolutely not going to leave any stone unturned.”Fowler said the driver is cooperating with the investigation.

“I can tell you that our initial interactions with the driver are positive, the driver is cooperative,” Fowler said. “At this point, we find no criminality yet. However, as I said, we are going to do a thorough investigation — and that is a lengthy process.”

Investigators are also interviewing occupants of the bus.

“They’ll take all the evidence that they’ll find on the scene, the markings on the pavement, the debris field, all of that together,” Fowler said. “They’ll do their work and they’ll come back to us with a report on how this accident took place and what transpired here.”
Manzo said the crash required 18 ambulances — coming from as far away as Penfield.

“It’s an incredible response,” Manzo said. “I don’t know where every ambulance came from at this point because our colleagues at ECD (the Emergency Communications Department), we say ‘Send ambulances’ and they find them.”

Of the 28 people on board, 13 were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital, according to a statement from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

One adult patient was taken for emergency surgery, the other 12 are under evaluation in the Strong Emergency Department including one child who does not appear to have serious injuries. Three other adult patients were taken to Highland Hospital and are under evaluation in its ED.

Fowler said those looking to track down family members who were on the bus can call (585) 753-4455.

“We will try our very best to update them with the very latest information on that person’s status, where they are located and how we can reunite them to get those families back together,” he said.

Interstate 490 remains closed to westbound traffic between Exit 4 (Union Street) and Exit 3 (Churchville). Eastbound traffic was also closed in that area temporarily but has reopened.Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement encouraging drivers to find alternate routes and showing support for those impacted by the crash.

I join the people of New York in praying for the well-being of all involved in this serious incident and am deeply grateful for the heroic efforts of our first responders,Hochul said in a prepared statement.