A bus carrying members of a high school marching band on a trip to a music camp has run off a highway and tumbled down a steep embankment in New York state, killing two people and injuring dozens of others.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, local time, said it appeared “a faulty front tyre contributed to the accident,” though the cause of the wreck remains under investigation.
A deputy superintendent for the New York State Police said two adult women on the bus died in the wreck, and several passengers were in critical condition.
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Dozens of others suffered minor bumps and bruises and were seen walking around the scene after the crash.
The crash occurred in the early afternoon along Interstate 84 near the town of Wawayanda, about 120km northwest of New York City near the border with New Jersey.
The New York State Police said in a posting on social media that the westbound lanes of the highway were closed at that point.
Two people died in the crash. Credit: NBC New York/APEmergency responders at the scene. Credit: NBC New York/AP
Aerial footage broadcast by local media from the crash scene showed the coach-style bus on its side amid trees and brush at the bottom of an embankment between the east and westbound lanes of the divided highway.
The bus appeared largely intact, with debris from the vehicle strewn nearby.
The bus had been carrying members of a high school band from the Long Island village of Farmingdale in Nassau County on a trip to a band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from the Farmingdale School District posted by local media.
Five other buses headed to the camp as part of the trip, an annual outing of the marching band, according to the school district, headed back to Farmingdale after the crash, local media reported.
Several other people were injured. Credit: AP
There was no word on whether any other vehicles were involved.
Weather in the area was clear at the time.
Video from the scene showed the overturned motor coach bearing the logo for Regency Buses, a regional bus line that serves New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
