3 Dead, More Than A Dozen Injured When Tour Bus From NYC Crashes In Poconos
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Three people were killed Wednesday, and more than a dozen were hospitalized, when a tour bus headed from New York City to Niagara Falls crashed head on into a semi-trailer truck in the Pocono Mountain region in Pennsylvania.
The crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 380 in the Pocono Mountain region about 115 miles north of Philadelphia, according to Monroe County, Pennsylvania, emergency officials.
Academy Bus said the bus had left New York at 7:30 a.m.
The mangled front end of the bus was upright on the highway but wedged into the side of the tractor-trailer, which was sheared in half. The cab of the truck came to rest on its side in the woods next to the road, one of its axles torn off.
It appeared from a wide swath of grass scraped away in the median that the tractor-trailer was southbound when it crossed over the divided highway and into the path of the northbound bus. State police said a second tractor-trailer was involved but they were still investigating what led to the Wednesday morning accident.
Monroe County coroner Robert Allen, who confirmed the three deaths, said there were 17 people aboard the bus. Italian tour operator Viaggidea said there were 16 people on board altogether -- 14 passengers, a tour guide and the driver.
Four people were reported in critical condition in the crash.
The bus owner, Academy Bus, identified its driver as one of the three dead. It said the driver had more than a decade of experience with the company.
More than a dozen people were injured and taken to hospitals, where most were being treated for mild to moderate injuries. Allen said the truck driver didn't appear to have been severely injured.
Viaggidea spokeswoman Simona Nocifora said she did not have any information on the passengers, including where they were from in Italy.
After sightseeing in New York, the group was headed to Niagara Falls, then Toronto, Washington and Philadelphia, before returning to New York, according to an itinerary for the eight-day trip.
The northbound lanes of I-380 remained closed as of Wednesday evening as officials continue to investigate.
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