Onondaga Lake Parkway reopens after crews remove the Megabus that crashed into the low-hanging railroad bridge.
View full sizeSheriff and fire personnel are investigating a fatal bus accident on Onondaga Parkway, at the railroad bridge. The parkway re-opened at 12:15 p.m. after being closed for about 10 hours.Update: Onondaga Lake Parkway reopened at 12:15 p.m. after rescue crews removed the Megabus that crashed into the railroad bridge at 2:30 a.m.
Salina, NY -- Four people are dead after a double-decker Megabus slammed into the railroad bridge across Onondaga Lake Parkway early this morning.
Don Carmichael, senior vice president for Coach USA, said 37 passengers were on the manifest leaving Philadelphia, but it's not certain how many were actually on the bus. The bus was on its way from Allentown, Pa., to Syracuse, Buffalo, and Toronto. The driver told police he remembered about 25 passengers.
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh said the dead were two men and a 19-year-old male, and a female in her teens or early 20s. The 19-year-old was from Kansas. One of the men appeared to be Middle Eastern. The other had paperwork that indicated he might be from Nigeria or Malaysia.
One victim was thrown from the bus. Walsh said he believed the others were in the top level of seats, but he wasn't sure where they were sitting.
Twenty-four people were taken to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical injuries, Walsh said. Fifteen were later released and are now being cared for at the Crowne Plaza Syracuse Downtown, formerly known at the Renaissance Syracuse Hotel.
The bus had not made the stop in Syracuse, Carmichael said. He had "no idea why the bus was where it was. It was definitely not on the prescribed route."
"Our thoughts and concern are with those who lost their lives or were injured during the accident near Syracuse this morning..." Megabus said in an update on Twitter. "We are carrying out a full investigation into the accident, as well as assisting the police and other authorities in any way that we can."
The bus driver, who has not yet been identified, told Onondaga County deputies, the bus was traveling 35 miles an hour north on Onondaga Lake Parkway when the collision occurred.
Signs on the parkway warn about the low bridge and the flashing lights that warn drivers that the bridge is 10 feet 9 inches high is coming up were working, Walsh said.
"The bus driver evidently didn't see that," he said.
The bus is about 12 feet, 8 inches, Walsh said, but the manufacturer, Van Hool of Belgium, gives the height at slightly more than 13 feet. This is the third or fourth time this year that a vehicle, usually a truck, has struck the bridge, Walsh said.
"I have no idea what else they can do. They've got flashing lights and signs," He said. "Somehow people just don't see those height signs."
Gene Cilento, speaking for the New York State Department of Transportation, said in terms of fatalities, this is the worst accident he knows of on the parkway. There have been five fatal accidents there since 1991 but none of them involved vehicles hitting the railroad bridge, he said.
State bus inspectors are on the scene now, he said about 11:15 a.m.
“With a lot of these accidents, we like to see the police reports and the accident reports before any conclusions are drawn from them. And you can be sure that when we get back to work on Monday, traffic and safety folks will be taking a look at this in more detail," Cilento said.
Most of the passengers were asleep when the accident occurred. Detectives were interviewing them this morning.
The bus slammed into the railroad bridge abutment at 2:30 a.m. and rolled on its side.
Earlier this morning a crew was working to pull the bus away from the bridge.
Sweaters, drinks and 11 mismatched shoes were scattered along the road under the bridge. The front of the bus was crumpled, with a mass of wires and broken televisions.
The windshield glass layered a bridge abutment corner and there was blue paint scraped on the concrete. Glass, a green bed pillow and medical gloves lay on the side of the road.
The driver of the Megabus was hospitalized with head injuries, Deputy Herb Wiggins said. Detectives are with him now, he said. Walsh there were no indications of alcohol or drugs.
A member of the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office was at the scene, the sheriff said.
Deputies have reports that the bus was traveling to or from the Central New York Regional Transportation Center, Wiggins said.
"We're not sure why he took this route in the first place," the deputy said.
View full sizeRescue personnel attempt to pull the Megabus from the bridge over Onondaga Parkway.The bus has two levels of seats and from a distance it appeared the two on the top level at the front of the bus were crushed. The bus is a Van Hool Model TD925.
Rescuers from the Liverpool, Mattydale, Moyers Corners and Syracuse Fire Departments were at the scene. Ambulance crews from Rural Metro, NAVAC, NOVA and TLC also responded.
Centro sent a bus to take 13 people who had not complained of injuries to area hospitals to be checked.
Onondaga Lake Parkway was reopened by 12:15 p.m., but was closed much of the morning as police investigated the accident and CSX crews inspected the bridge for damage.
Between 1991 and 2008, there were 343 crashes, along the parkway, including five fatal crashes, according to the state Department of Transportation. There have been three serious accidents on the parkway, since Aug. 16. The two previous accidents were head-on crashes and did not involve the bridge. Read about previous accidents on Onondaga Lake Parkway
This is the first major accident involving a Megabus, Carmichael said. Megabus is owned by Stagecoach Group, based in Scotland, through its subsidiary, Coach USA. Megabus began operations in 2006. Toronto Star story on a Megabus crash near Buffalo in 2009.
A CSX national spokesman said the railroad company is cooperating with investigators and has halted rail traffic over the bridge until officials say it is safe to reopen. That has "minimal" impact on CSX operations, spokesman Bob Sullivan said.
As to whether CSX needs to do something to make the bridge safer: "I think what we need to do right now is cooperate with the investigation and deal with this and certainly have any discussion further down the road," Sullivan said.
Reporters and photographers are at the scene and will provide more information as they get it.