Bus overturns near Rochester, New York, sending dozens to hospitals
A bus with dozens of passengers aboard rolled over on a highway in upstate New York on Thursday morning, critically injuring one person and sending over two dozen to hospitals, authorities said.
Twenty-eight people were sent to area hospitals, some with minor injuries, after the bus overturned on Interstate 490 west of Rochester around 7 a.m., according to officials.
"Deputies arriving on the scene found people that were trapped on the tour bus that had flipped on 490," Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter told reporters at the scene. First responders "also found multiple people walking alongside 490 in a state of confusion that had been passengers on the bus," he said.
The bus had left New York City around midnight and was making stops on the way to Niagara Falls, officials said.
The cause of the rollover wasn't immediately clear. An accident reconstruction team was trying to determine what happened to the bus, Baxter said.
"It did roll on its side, turn 180 degrees in reverse and was laid on its side when we arrived on scene, so getting people off the bus was a difficult task by everybody involved," the sheriff said.
The driver was cooperating with investigators, and there was no indication drugs or alcohol were involved, authorities said.
Tribal Sun, the company in Massachusetts identified as the operator of the bus, did not immediately comment.
"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," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.