19 more being treated, at least 6 critical
Update: 8PM:
HAWTHORNE, N.Y. (AP) - Police say witnesses have told investigators that the driver of a tour bus that crashed on the outskirts of New York City and killed 14 people was driving at a "high rate of speed."
State Police Major Michael Kopy says authorities are interviewing the driver and are conducting the investigation as if it were a criminal matter. No one has been charged.
The driver was taken to a hospital, where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The bus was returning from the Mohegon Sun casino in Connecticut when the crash happened early Saturday morning. The driver told police he lost control trying to avoid a swerving tractor-trailer.
As many as 20 passengers were treated at area hospitals. Eight are in critical condition.
Kopy said Saturday night that police were interviewing the driver of a tractor-trailer that was in the area at the time of the crash.
Update 12:30pm:
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a 'GO' team to the Bronx to investigate this morning's fatal bus crash.
The 17 member team is coming from Washington and is expected to be on site this afternoon.
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Updated 11am:
The driver of a tour bus says he was clipped by a tractor trailer before swerving into a sign pole that sliced his bus in half.
The bus, operated by World Wide Tours, was on I-95 in the Bronx about 5:30 this morning, headed from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to Manhattan's Chinatown. 13 were dead at the scene, after the bus swerved, flipped on its side and crashed into the support post for the Hutchinson Parkway exit. The pole came through the front window and sheared the bus along the window line, cutting thru the seating area and peeling the roof off, all the way to the back tires. 19 other passengers are hospitalized, at least six in critical condition. It's believed at least 31 passengers were aboard.
I-95 in both directions was closed, however the northbound lanes are now re-opened. Police are looking for a tractor trailer--none stopped after the bus crash.
AP reports contributed information to this story.
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earlier story:
A a tour bus has flipped over on I-95 in the Bronx, shearing off its top. At least 13 of the 31 to 33 passengers aboard have been killed, another 6 are critical. No word yet on where the Worldwide Tour Bus was going--the crash happened at the interstate exit for the Bronx Zoo and NY Botanical Garden, about 5:30 Saturday morning.
