‘COULD HAVE BEEN TRAGIC’: More than 40 passengers, most of them high school students, were injured, but no one was killed when their tour bus failed to clear an overpass in Long Island, New York, shearing off the roof of the vehicle. https://t.co/LDfcrZoZKU pic.twitter.com/IyWjJPK0ew
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) April 9, 2018
Overnight on Long Island, a tour bus carrying high school students failed to anticipate the height of a highway overpass before it was too late. The vehicle struck the overpass, and the force of the impact sheared the top right off the bus. The above ABC News clip shows the devastation that occurred in what truly played like a nightmare scenario. Miraculously, no one was killed as a result of the collision, but 42 people were injured, 6 of them seriously.
ABC 7 in New York reveals that the bridge in question was one of the lowest (out of many rivals) in the area, and the bus driver (from New Jersey-based Journey Bus Lines) was apparently not aware that commercial buses aren’t allowed on the parkway system for that reason. The driver is now cooperating fully with authorities.
During a press conference, New York State Police Maj. David Candelaria revealed (in the below CBS News clip) that some passengers had to be extricated from the bus. He reported that immediately after the first calls came in, first responders “set up a mass-casualty treatment triage,” and their quick response time likely saved lives. Indeed and as Candelaria stated, “We’re very lucky. This could have been tragic.”