Pinki Changrani and Zhang Xiaolan Accident: NY Thruway crash kills tour bus driver, victims identified: Continue Reading

 The names of the five people killed in Friday's bus accident on the New York State Thruway, as well as the identity of the bus driver, have been released by the New York State Police.

Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India; Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, NJ; Xie Hongzhuo, 22, a Beijing, China student at Columbia University; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City, NJ; and Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City, NJ, are among the deceased.

According to state police, Bin Shao, 55, of Flushing, New York, who was operating the bus, did not appear to be impaired.

This is the most recent version.

The driver of a 2005 Van Wool Bus and Coach tour bus, owned by M&Y Tour, Inc. from Staten Island, is thought to have lost control of the vehicle due to distraction at around 12:22 p.m. on Friday, August 22, just before Exit 48A on the Thruway. State police said the bus pulled off the road and crashed over.

The bus was traveling from Niagara Falls to New York City in an eastbound direction on the I-90.

There were 54 people on board the vehicle at the time of the event, including two tour bus business personnel and 52 passengers. The passengers on the bus were from a variety of nations, including the United States, China, India, the Philippines, and the Middle East, and their ages ranged from 1 to 74.

At a news conference at the crash site on Friday night, New York State Police Troop T Major Andre Ray said, "First and foremost, our thoughts, prayers, and hearts go out to those affected, their friends, and their family."

Although the reason of the incident is still being investigated, no charges have been brought as of yet, and mechanical failure and operator intoxication or impairment have been ruled out as contributing causes.

Ten of the 24 patients who were sent to ECMC after the bus accident in Pembroke were released Friday night, according to an ECMC spokesperson.

One of the four patients who were sent to the trauma intensive care unit and operating room is currently in critical condition, while the other three are said to be stable. The hospital has admitted all four individuals.