Tour bus rollover kills 5 on interstate highway in western New York
[August 23, 2025]
By ED WHITE and DAVE COLLINS
A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 54 people
aboard crashed and rolled on its side Friday on an interstate highway,
killing five passengers and injuring many others, authorities said.
The driver apparently became distracted, lost control and overcorrected
before the bus went into the right shoulder and flipped over shortly
before 12:30 p.m. on the eastbound side of Interstate 90 in Pembroke,
New York, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Buffalo, state police
Maj. Andre Ray said at an evening news conference. He did not say how
the driver became distracted, adding that the cause remains under
investigation.
Ray said the passengers ranged in age from 1 to 74. Multiple people were
ejected from the bus during the crash, and five people — all adults —
were pronounced dead at the scene, Ray said. Many others became
entrapped in the wreck and were rescued. Dozens were taken to hospitals.
Ray said it didn't appear any other people had life-threatening
injuries.
“An absolute tragedy took place,” Ray said. “And first and foremost, our
thoughts, prayers and hearts go out to those involved, their friends and
their families.”
State police said most of the passengers on the bus were of Indian,
Chinese and Filipino ethnicity, and authorities brought in translators
to help with the emergency response.
Ray said a preliminary investigation ruled out mechanical failure or
driver impairment. The driver survived the crash and was cooperating
with police, officials said. No charges had been filed as of Friday
evening, Ray said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to
New York to investigate the crash.
The Mercy Flight medical transport service said its three helicopters
and three more from other services transported people from the crash
site. Hospitals in the region said they evaluated or treated more than
40 people. Injuries ranged from head trauma to broken arms and legs.
Two people who needed surgery at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo
were expected to recover, said Dr. Jeffrey Brewer, chief of surgery.
State police said the bus was owned by M&Y Tour Inc. in the New York
City borough of Staten Island. A message seeking comment was left at a
phone listing for the company.
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First responders work to rescue victims at the scene of a tour bus
that crashed and rolled over on the New York State Thruway near
Pembroke, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Libby March/Buffalo News via
AP)
M&Y Tour has a “satisfactory” safety rating and no record of
accidents or fatalities over the past two years, according to the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Officials inspected the
company's buses and drivers 60 times over the past two years, the
agency said.
At an earlier news conference, Trooper James O'Callaghan said it
appeared most people on the bus were not wearing seat belts.
In response to another bus crash in New York in 2023, a state law
requires seat belt use on charter buses built on or after Nov. 28,
2016. The age of the bus in Friday's crash wasn't immediately known.
The New York State Thruway Authority said a lengthy stretch of the
roadway had been shut down in both directions and drivers were being
urged to avoid the area. The westbound lanes were reopened later in
the day.
People who saw the aftermath of the wreck said glass and people's
belongings were scattered on the highway.
“It was certainly heartbreaking to see,” Powell Stephens, of Medina,
told WHAM-TV after he drove by the crash. “There was a lot of people
embracing each other. It looked like people were breaking down.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the accident a tragedy in a post
on the social platform X. She said she was briefed on the crash and
that her office was working with police and local officials.
“Our hearts are with their loved ones during this difficult time,”
the governor said of the victims.
___
An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of
Trooper James O’Callaghan's last name.
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