Two Women Die, 48 Hurt After Tour Bus Overturns in Delaware

September 22, 2014 | By hromedia | Reply More

Sep 22, – Two women were killed and 48 other people injured Sunday when a New York-based tour bus crashed on a Del. 1 exit ramp near Red Lion. Two of the injured were in critical condition, Delaware State Police said.

The southbound bus, owned by AM USA Express, left the roadway on the exit for northbound U.S. 13 at Tybouts Corner, crashing about 4:20 p.m.

“As the bus attempted to negotiate a moderate curve on the ramp, it exited the roadway and overturned onto its roof. The bus continued to slide on its roof traveling down a slight grass embankment, rotating onto its left side where it came to rest,” Sgt. Paul G. Shavack said early Monday in a news release.

Elvis D’cruz, 19, told The Associated Press he was driving in the area with a friend when he came upon the overturned bus. He said he and his friend pulled over and were there before first responders arrived.

“Everyone was in pain and crying out for help,” said D’cruz, a student at Penn State Brandywine in Pennsylvania.

He said the group of passengers included mostly adults, many of them speaking different languages including Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese.

“There was not one person without blood on them,” he said, adding that he and his friend handed out items from a first aid kit.

D’cruz said the bus had overturned on an off-ramp from Del. 1 that is known for being steep.

The first victim was Hua’y Chen, 54, of New York City. She was pinned under the bus, suffered multiple traumatic injuries and died at the scene, Shavack said.

The second fatality was 30-year-old Idil Bahsi from Istanbul, Turkey, who died of multiple traumatic injuries at 10:45 p.m. Sunday at Christiana Hospital, he said.

Shavack identified the driver of the bus as Jinli Zhao, 56, of Flushing, New York, and said he was being treated for minor injuries at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. Zhao was wearing a seat belt, Shavack said.

The crash scrambled ambulances and emergency services throughout New Castle County, also causing hours-long delays and miles-long backups as both directions of Del. 1 were closed. Northbound U.S. 13 also backed up for miles south of the site, as a stream of ambulances arrived and removed victims.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by state police and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is sending an investigator, Shavack said. He acknowledged the crash occurred on a sharp and tight curve where past accidents had speed as a contributing factor.

On the rural exit, southbound traffic leaves the high-speed highway and makes a teardrop-shaped loop to head north.

The bus left New York on Friday and traveled to Washington, D.C., Shavack said, and was returning to New York when it crashed.

“It had a number of stops over the last few days,” Shavack said. The bus company was sending a bus Sunday night to Delaware from New York to retrieve passengers who were being released after medical care.

The company has four motorcoaches and two minibuses or vans, according to federal motorcoach safety records. The company, with seven drivers, had one crash with no injuries in the last 24 months, the records show.

After Sunday’s crash, New Castle County paramedic crews triaged wounds, with the most-severely injured airlifted from the scene by Delaware and Maryland state police helicopters.

Sixteen ambulances from fire companies and emergency medical service agencies treated and transported the injured, said Paramedic Sgt. Michael A. McColley of New Castle County Emergency Medical Services.

County paramedics “coordinated with the area hospitals on transport destinations, as to not overload a single emergency department facility,” McColley said.

Press journalist for HRO Media – Debi Campillos reports.