Several Reportedly Dead In Tour Bus Crash

AP via wnbc.com ^ | 8/28/06 | AP

[conservative in nyc]

Multiple passengers were injured when a Greyhound bus traveling from New York City to Montreal crashed through a guard rail on the Northway late Monday and landed upside down at the bottom of an embankment, police said.

State police reported six unconfirmed deaths, but they have not yet been confirmed by a medical examiner, said Trooper Ryan Bentley of the Westport barracks.

The Plattsburgh Press Republican reported from the scene that several people were killed. Former Mayor Daniel Stewart and his partner, Jon Recor, were among the first people at the crash site. They provided a blanket to cover some of deceased passengers.

The bus was driving northbound on Interstate 87 at about 6:45 p.m. when it overturned just before exit 31 near Elizabethtown.

At least 20 passengers were lying on blankets and stretchers while receiving care from medical personnel, while others still remained trapped on the bus at 8:30 p.m.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh and Glens Falls. CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh was in disaster mode and called City Police Department for help with crowd control.

The highway remained closed late Monday between Exits 30 and 31 in both directions.

The back and top of the bus was crushed and one of its back wheels was turned inward.

Westport is 110 miles north of Albany.

[conservative in nyc]

The Northway is I-87 north of Albany. Let's hope the unofficial death count is high.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Who will be the first FReeper to claim this is related to terrorism?

[Jet Jaguar]

Who will be the first to claim this is related to homosexuals?

[Fred Nerks]

Not me...but I wonder what the relationship between the first responders had to do with their actions?

"Former Mayor Daniel Stewart and his partner, Jon Recor, were among the first people at the crash site..."

[SamAdams76]

I wonder if this is what all those cell phones were being bought for and that this is just the beginning.

[conservative in nyc]

I'm not sure why it's relevant to the story at all, but yes, the former Platsburgh mayor is gay. It's nice that they stopped and tried to help, anyway.

[conservative in nyc]

I wonder if this is what all those cell phones were being bought for and that this is just the beginning.

Huh? From the local Plattsburgh paper, it sounds like a tire blew out. Tires blow out all the time. This has nothing to do with all those cell phones, and likely isn't terrorist-related.

The cell phones were being unlocked so that they could be used on any phone network and resold at mom-and-pop cell phone stores, by the way. Tracfone sued someone in Florida for doing the same thing (and settled the lawsuit after the men agreed to an injunction against future similar activity), and the three men arrested in Michigan were brought up on fraud-related charges. It will be interesting to see if the charges stick, since it sounds like it's the first time people have been criminally charged for unlocking cell phones in violation of Tracfone's (presumably shrink wrap) user agreement.

[ladyjane]

Eeks, you think the cell phone thing is starting???

Aren't you the guy who had the premonition about 9/11? Didn't you have a dream about it a week before it happened?

[BluH2o]

I'm stretching my memory a little on this ... back, perhaps 15 or 20 years ago, there was another bus accident in this same area with a number of fatalities. The Northway is a spectacular piece of highway, stretching from Albany up to Plattsburgh, NY ... very scenic. However highway I-87 is hilly, curvy, and has high embankments falling off the road in many places. This highway extends north to Montreal ... it was constructed in the early 1960's and completed in time for the Montreal Worlds Fair (Expo '67).

[relictele]

Let's hope the unofficial death count is high.

Not making light of the wreck, but I'm sure you mean "not high".....

[conservative in nyc]

Not making light of the wreck, but I'm sure you mean "not high".....

I think I meant what I typed - the unofficial death count is at 6. Let's hope that count is high and the official count is much lower, something like 0. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like it.

The bus was carrying over 50 passengers, according to the NYC local news.

[dljordan]

"I wonder if this is what all those cell phones were being bought for and that this is just the beginning."

How do you crash a bus with a cell phone?

[Onelifetogive]

Not me...but I wonder what the relationship between the first responders had to do with their actions?

Mouth-to-mouth? You know....I'm feeling a lot better. Why don't you help that guy over there.....I'd rather just lay here and die, thanks.....

[Palladin]

Sorry to hear this. It's been a bad week for accidents.

May God grant eternal rest to the deceased victims.

[Palladin]

Don't you know that terrorists can use cellphones to blow out tires?

;)

[sageb1]

I'm remembering the same. I got confused tonight...couldn't tell if I was hearing ambulances on FNC or near GF Hospital.

To whomever mentioned something about cell phones, have you ever tried to use a cell phone in the Adirondacks? Very few work.

[sageb1]

I was 13 when the Northway was built. I remember riding my bike on it before it was completed. The state moved our house down the hill and the highway runs through my old backyard.

[SamAdams76]

You are so busy talking into it that you fail to pay attention to the road.

[HiTech RedNeck]

That the true death count is lower