Last week, we reported that a charter bus carrying high school students crashed in New York, but at the time, there weren’t many details available. We knew that the bus had fallen down an embankment and that one person had died, with dozens more injured, but information was limited. Now, ABC 7 News is reporting that investigators believe a blown front tire may have been the cause of the crash that sent the bus tumbling 50 feet down a slope.
The students left from Long Island and were headed to a marching band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania and were reportedly only 30 minutes away from the Pine Forest Camp when the bus crashed. According to reports, there were 40 students and four adults on the bus, and as of Friday, 13 people were still in the hospital. Two adults have died, one of whom was Gina Pellettiere, the school’s band director. The other was Beatrice Ferarri, a retired social studies teacher.
Emergency crews were able to get the bus back off its side and finally reopened Interstate 84 to traffic Friday morning, and New York State Police are investigating the crash. They reportedly believe that a blown left, front tire had something to do with the crash, but they aren’t ready to say whether or not it was the sole cause. The National Transportation Safety Board expects to spend the next week looking into what actually happened.
Victims, many of whom were freshmen in high school, were reportedly taken to six different area hospitals. Eight were taken to Westchester Medical Center, with three in serious condition. Five more were taken to Garnett Health Medical Center, although their condition is not known at this time.
One of the students, a 15-year-old named Anthony Eugenio, told ABC 7 News that he was asleep when the crash occurred. “I thought it was a dream until I could feel like the pain in my leg,” he told the news outlet. “The kid next to me was covered in blood. I saw blood everywhere.”