2 Indian-origin persons among 5 killed in NY tour bus crash

Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey, and Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India, were among the victims.

Stock image. / Shutterstock

Five people died after a tour bus returning from Niagara Falls overturned on Interstate 90 near New York City on Aug. 22, including two Indian-origin passengers.

Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey, and Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India, were among the victims identified by New York State Police. The other three who died were Zhang Xiaolan, 55, and Jian Mingli, 56, both of Jersey City, and Xie Hongzhuo, 22, a Columbia University student from Beijing.

The crash occurred at around 3 p.m. when the 2005 Van Wool Bus and Coach tour bus, carrying 54 people, left the road and went into the median. “The driver abruptly corrected, causing the bus to overturn and roll down an embankment,” State Police spokesperson James O’Callaghan said at a press conference.

Several passengers were ejected from the bus, while others were trapped inside. Mercy Flight helicopters, local EMS, and first responders rushed to the scene. Injured passengers were transported to Erie County Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, and UMMR in Batavia.

Police confirmed the driver showed no signs of impairment and said the bus had no mechanical failure. The bus was operated by M&Y Tour Inc., a Staten Island-based company with a “satisfactory” safety rating and no record of accidents or fatalities in the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Officials said the company’s vehicles and drivers had been inspected 60 times over that period.

At the press conference, O’Callaghan noted that most passengers appeared not to be wearing seat belts. New York law requires seat belt use on charter buses manufactured on or after Nov. 28, 2016. The bus involved in the crash was older and not covered by that regulation.

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