Megabus Accidents

A two-tiered tour bus was in an accident after colliding with a big-rig truck on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Dozens of passengers were on board at the time of the crash, and at least four of those traveling on the Toronto-bound bus were reported as having sustained serious injuries. First responders evaluated and treated some of the wounded on scene, while the passengers who escaped injury were transported to a nearby location via shuttle. A total of 23 injuries were reported in total, with one of the injured parties so badly wounded that he had to be taken to an area hospital via airlift for treatment.

One passenger described the scene of the accident as horrific, with one passenger trapped and screaming until she could be mechanically extracted from the bus. The accident took place near the town of Lancaster on Highway 401, a main thoroughfare serving east Ontario. It is unclear just how the collision took place; all reports indicate that the big-rig truck and the tour bus—owned by New Jersey-based Megabus—collided while both vehicles were traveling in the westbound lanes of the highway, and the double-decker bus left the roadway, finally landing at a tilted angle propped against some trees by the roadside. The investigation remains ongoing at this time, and there is no word yet as to whether charges will be filed.

Passengers and witnesses reported a scene of bloody carnage. One person on board described the scene as so frightening that he opted to jump from a broken, second-deck window rather than remain on board. Multiple passengers, both injured and non-injured, used the shattered bus windows as a means of escape, while others remained trapped within or opted to stay on board to calm their wounded peers until help arrived.

Megabus released a statement acknowledging that the bus involved in the crash was under their ownership, and officials from Megabus have stated that they are doing everything in their power to comply with requests from investigating officers to offer aid during the course of the investigation into the accident.

A bus in Nepal lost control and veered off the road into a ravine early in the morning of Wednesday, April 22, 2015, causing the deaths of at least 17 people on board at the time of the accident. Twelve of these deaths are alleged to have taken place on scene, while five deaths occurred later in area hospitals. The accident occurred near Nagdhunga, an area a few miles westward from the nation’s capital city of Kathmandu

The bus was a double-decker bus, transporting around 50 people on a pilgrimage hailing from the Gujarat area of neighboring India. The injured were reportedly taken to seven area hospitals. Reports have stated that 30 people were injured in the crash. The condition of all the injured people has not been released, although four are said to be in critical condition and fighting for their lives.

The driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle on the Prithvi roadway when the bus swerved over a gorge, plunging nearly 1,000 feet down before landing on the valley floor below. The roads in Nepal are notoriously dangerous and ill-kept, and overcrowding of buses is a known issue in the region. Authorities in the area have yet to state whether the bus was filled beyond capacity at the time of the crash, and whether such a factor may have played a part in the bus crash.

Nepali roads are notorious for their danger, as many of the roadways in Nepal are ill-kept and lacking in proper safety protocols. Bus travel in the country is especially perilous, as many buses fill themselves beyond legally advised capacity, often with passengers riding atop the bus or hanging alongside the bus, even as the bus is stuffed full within. This causes a weight differential that can make an otherwise stable bus roll over at an alarmingly easy rate.

Seventy people were injured and at least three dozen killed in a crash between three buses and an ice truck in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, March 23, 2015 in Huarmey, Peru. Huarmey is located some 225 miles northward of Lima, the nation’s capital city, in Ancash. Of the three buses involved in the crash, at least two were double-decker buses carrying a multitude of passengers.

Reports state that one bus, run by Murga Serrano, swerved into an oncoming lane of traffic for unknown reasons, causing it to smash headlong into the other two buses and the ice truck at an unknown rate of speed. Bus travel is essential to daily Peruvian life, being a form of transit used by many commuters on a day-to-day basis. The mass collision took place on Pan American Highway, a thoroughfare used by many Peruvian people for north-south travel throughout the extensive country.

One of the buses—though it is unknown whether it is the vehicle that reportedly caused the crash—was carrying a slew of congregants from the Worldwide Missionary Movement. It is not yet known whether the individuals traveling aboard this bus were Peruvian nationals. An investigation is currently underway, with preliminary findings pointing at the possibility of driver fatigue being the cause of the swerving or drifting that brought on the deadly crash.

News photos paint a grisly tale of damage, with the buses torn asunder, seats exposed. Half a dozen of the wounded were airlifted by helicopter from the scene of the crash, and others were transported by way of emergency ground vehicles to area hospitals to receive medical care. The exact nature of the injuries and survival expectancy has not yet been released to the press. The Murga Serrano bus was reportedly split in two upon impact, leaving victims scattered across the pavement as it smashed into the three other vehicles before finally coming to a halt.

According to crash data released by the World Health Organization, Peru was host to more than 4,600 traffic deaths in 2010. Peruvian roadways are notoriously dangerous for drivers, in part due to poor pavement maintenance and other factors. Driver fatigue, such as that suspected to have played a role in this fatal crash, is a significant problem worldwide in terms of traffic accident causes. It is not yet known whether charges will be filed as a result of this horrific accident.

Brooklyn, New York witnessed a devastating accident on the 19th of September, which claimed more than 3 dozen lives. The Metropolitan Authority bus hit a car at approximately 4:40 am at Albany Avenue and Herkimer Street in the Bedford/Stuyvesant part of the district.

The FDNY has been reported to have said that overall, 41 of the passengers were injured, both of those seated in the bus as well as in the car. The injured were immediately taken to nearby hospitals.

Of the passengers from the bus, approximately 12 were injured while the rest of the 29 suffered from minor injuries, according to authorities. However, thankfully none of these injuries were fatal, thus instilling hope that the injured passengers can recover soon enough.

Many passersby claim that the car was rushing through at a high speed before the impact occurred. Furthermore, a witness recalled that the car was fleeing authorities and even ran through a stop sign. It is then that the car collided with the bus.

The driver of the car was in possession of a gun and started fleeing the scene with the gun when the police drew attention towards the weapon. The car as a result of the crash was completely demolished, and its driver received serious injuries.

Another witness claims that the accident knocked in an entire part of the Camaro. Additionally, the rescue team is reported to have used the ‘jaws of life’ to take the victims out of the debris, such was the devastation created consequent to the car’s collision with the MTA bus.

FDNY Battalion Chief, Mike Breslin claimed that the roof of the car was cut open in order to remove the 2 people in it who had received considerable injuries because of the crash.

The accident is yet to undergo investigation; however under circumstances where the car driver was driving recklessly in order to escape the police, it is likely that the driver will be found to be blame-worthy, considering the catastrophe incurred as a result of the collision.

In order for such accidents to be prevented from occurring in the future, it is imperative that the required authorities step in and improve the high traffic and high rate of breaking the law when it comes to driving in New York. Though no lives have been taken in this accident, some of its victims have been seriously injured, which ought to stand as a deterrent for any further collision taking place in the future at the expense of the driver’s negligence.

In Southern Italy, 39 people were killed and approximately 10 were injured as a result of a destructive bus accident. The incident took place on July 28, 2013 and was recognized by the Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta as a huge tragedy.

The bus jumped off a viaduct as a result of traveling at a high speech, which rendered it uncontrollable. Reports pertaining to the crash claim that the bus was traveling at a high speed and on its way towards colliding with the roadside barriers when it crashed against four or five cars.

The accident took place near Monteforte Irpino, situated east of Naples, where the bus went off the road and crashed into the barriers at the side of the road. Many of the total of 50 passengers on board were children.

The motorway operator, Autostrade per l’Italia stated that the coach was traveling at a high speed in the proximity of traffic that appeared to be moving slowly, despite the fact that this slow speed was indicated on the road.

Alessio Barbarulo, the head of the local fire brigade team further reflected that despite the average barriers constructed on viaducts and bridges being strong enough to prevent such crashes, but it appears that the impact was so overpowering that even these barriers gave in.

Accident proves to be one of the worst in Italy’s history

The bus crash is allegedly one of the country’s worst accidents, and within a span of five days, this accident is the second one to have occurred in Southern Italy. In the former bus crash, 79 people were killed as a result of the derailment of a high speed train in the Spanish pilgrimage town by the name of Santiago de Compostela.

The site of the accident was extremely shocking and tragic, with many bodies covered in white sheets, waiting to be dispatched to hospitals through ambulances, the coach was completely crushed, and there was debris covering the entire scene.

Immediately after the accident, 36 people died at the accident site, while 3 more died after having reached the hospital, as reported by the police. Furthermore, investigation for the cause of the accident is being carried out.

The Minister of Infrastructure Maurizo Lupi claimed that there were no signs of the bus having any technical problems, as it had passed its annual inspection earlier in March. An official of the prosecutor’s office claimed that the investigation would take into account the possibility of manslaughter; however, the driver too was killed in the crash. Local media mentioned the recurrence of road accidents in this area, which should not be overlooked by authorities while carrying out the investigation.

The bus accident took place in San Martin Jilotepeque, approximately 45 miles away from Guatemala City and proved to be nothing less than devastating and shocking. The bus was scheduled to travel from Chilamentago to the region of San Martin Jilotepeque and was found to have contained 36 more passengers than its seat capacity of 90, according to Mario Cruz, on behalf of the fire department. However, the cause of the accident has not been unraveled.

Otto Vielman, the mayor of San Martin Jilotepeque claims that the bus collided against colossal rocks, and this collision resulted in its flight from a cliff. The bus fell off a 100-meter high cliff and landed into a river, situated at the end of a ravine located in the municipality of San Martin Jilotepeque.

Rescue Operation on Hold

In an attempt to rescue the remaining injured passengers and in order to retrieve the bodies of the deceased, rescue operations were conducted. However, these were obstructed because of the presence of a high-speed flow of river water located near the accident site.

Emergency teams set up cables along the river and carried stretchers through the water. Mechanical diggers were also employed in order to lift people across the water. Locals living beside the accident site volunteered to aid the rescue teams in their search and found the sight heart breaking and distressing.

One local resident even said that certain passengers on the bus had been transporting the harvest of their farms to the local market. The injured victims of this destructive incident were placed in local hospitals, and others were transferred to hospitals in Guatemala City.

Guatemalan President Announces Three Days of Mourning

The catastrophic accident is said to have been the worst road accident in Guatemala in 2013; thus, the president issued a notice recognizing 3 days of mourning for the deceased. 40 people died immediately after the occurrence of the accident whilst 3 of the remaining 50 died in the hospitals they were transported to for treatment, as reported by Cecilio Chacaj, a spokesman of the fire department. Amongst the deceased were six children as well.

The government has initiated investigations to find the cause of this accident so that any future catastrophes similar to it can be avoided.  Furthermore, it is recorded that Guatemala has the fifth largest number of road crashes in Latin America, with approximately 20 out of 100,000 people dying as a result of road accidents. Previously in 2008, a similar devastating crash took place within this country, killing 53 people.

A tourist bus crashed into a gorge outside a resort in Kuala Lumpur, killing 37 of its passengers as a result. Rescue operations have been initiated, and authorities claim that they are uncertain regarding the total number of passengers stuck in the gorge, claiming around 53 passengers were traveling on the bus.

The assistant director of Kuala Lumpur’s Rescue Department further admits that the cause of the accident has yet not been unraveled. The spokesman of the fire department added to the details by showing how the bus, actually meant to seat 44 people, was indeed overloaded. The bus was headed back from the Genting Highlands, a strip of small hills a distance of 55 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur. It was then that it slid off the road and crashed into the ravine.

The rescued include sixteen passengers mostly with severe injuries that are being dealt with in various hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. The police are employing trained dogs to help uncover more people stuck in the unforgiving terrain of the gorge with a bus toppled on top of them. Almost 200 firefighters, doctors, and policemen have been employed in the rescue team. The bus driver was also killed in this accident. Furthermore, since access to the area is not possible through the road, ropes and cranes are being used to lift up and identify people.

The accident took place near Malaysia’s most famous casino, which attracts more than 20 million people per year and has been there for the last 42 years. Most of the bodies, at least 32 remain inside the vehicle and have not been identified as yet. Most of the passengers were Malaysians, while a few were visitors from the Middle East and Thailand.

A similar bus accident took place recently near the Genting Highlands. However, it was far less catastrophic than the current one. Two Indian tourists were killed as a result. Furthermore, the number of people killed in this latest accident far exceeds the last great accident, which took place in 2010. In that accident, 28 people were killed in a bus crash near another tourist attraction, the Cameron Highlands.

Genting Highlands receives many domestic and foreign visitors, especially from countries such as China and Singapore. The roads that lead to this resort, i.e. the site of the accident, are both well maintained and safe, and yet such a catastrophic accident could not be prevented. It is now the responsibility of the Malaysian government and the owners of the Genting Highlands to install further safety precautions, minimizing the chance of a similar accident from occurring in the future.

The Director of Transport at Calvert County Public Schools claims that a student was rushed to the emergency room consequent to a bus accident that took place on one of Calvert’s very own school buses. The bus was taking students to the elementary school in Calvert. While it was motionless and reached a stop, the bus got hit at the rear by a car. Immediately, the County Sheriff, the school’s vice principal and Director of Transport Cassidy reached the place where the accident had taken place and tried to resolve the situation.

Soon after, the students who were victims of the accident were assessed by the school nurse and their minor injuries were cared for. The school administration informed the parents of the injured students and sent the students home early. Nevertheless, one of the students was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance, at the consent of his/her parents. Most of the injuries were small; however, the impact on the school children was quite heavy.

Another accident took place on a school bus that was headed towards Appeal and Patuxent Elementary Schools earlier in the same week. The bus was attempting to make a three-point turn between Deadwood and Carlesbard Court at almost 8.54 a.m. on August 28th. There were no injuries as the bus’s side rubbed against a trailer, which was parked. Consequently, the students were transported to their respective schools, as reported by the Sheriff and Cassidy, who undertook the investigation.

Cassidy further revealed that her department, i.e. pertaining to transport services, includes a committee that evaluates every accident by interviewing the driver to confirm the details of the accident with him/her. Similarly, the possibility of revising training activities for drivers will be discussed by Cassidy’s department to prevent such accidents from taking place in the future.

The latest school bus accident involved a bus that was taking 8th grade students from Calverton High School to a school in Huntington. The accident took place at White Plains while the bus was on its way to Colonial Williamsburg on the 28th of August. As a result of the accident, much damage was not done; however, two students and a teacher were found to be mildly injured. They were immediately taken to a hospital, as reported by the police and the school’s administration.

Fortunately, the effects of all three accidents were not that grave. However, their occurrence in just one week is a fact to be concerned about. Something may need to be done in order to avoid a relatively worse accident in the future.

Mohamed Abdul Nasir Sheikh, the owner of the City to City Bus Company, has been charged in court. One of the company’s buses crashed on the Mai-Mahiu-Narok road in Ntulele and killed 42 passengers. Sheikh will be appearing in front of Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndwiga, and he has been accused of using a substandard bus to operate his business.

Moreover, he has been indicted for failing to keep records of the drivers in his bus company, and he awaits a fresh charge from a court in Narok.

Sheikh was arrested on Sunday morning following the unfortunate bus accident that proved to be fatal for many of its passengers. As a repercussion of the incident, the police have already taken three buses in its custody that belong to the company.

The arrest came as a consequence of a direct order by Michael Kamau, who is serving as the Transport Cabinet Secretary. He stated that the bus company should be held accountable for the incident, and everyone who was involved in the incident should be given justice. He was also of the view that the government will use this accident as a prime example to make sure that passenger buses that travel at night are discouraged and subsequently banned in order to ensure more traffic safety and prevent such accidents. Most bus accidents take place at night because many bus drivers are not careful of road safety. Kamau believes that these accidents can be prevented.

Furthermore, President Uhuru Kenyatta also made a statement to put the owners and drivers of PSV’s on notice that they would be held responsible in case of any fatalities of their passengers. President Kenyatta warned that any such accidents would be strictly dealt with.

Also, the Inspector General of Police, David Kimaiyo released information regarding traffic police officers who had been implicated because of their possible connections in a Public Service Vehicle bribery cartel. He stated that the case was being investigated, and all those who were a part of this cartel would be brought forth for a hearing if any of the suspected police officers were proven to have taken part in the corruption. This incident has possibly led to lax road safety, which has allowed such accidents to take place, resulting in such high rate of fatalities. The suspected police officers would be dealt according to the stated laws but also face a possible exit from the Police Service if their part in the corruption scandal is exposed.

A casino-bound tour bus met with an accident on Thursday. The accident occurred in Irwindale, California where the bus slipped from the foothill freeway near the San Gabriel freeway, which is about 20 miles on the eastern side of Los Angeles. As reported by the CHP, at least 50 people got hurt in the accident.

The CHP also said that the accident occurred in the eastbound lane of 210 at about 10 a.m. The aerial coverage responded immediately to the accident and reached the place where the accident happened. The firefighters brought along yellow, green, and red colored cloths for the people to distinguish the victims by the severity of their injuries. The red colored cloth indicated the most severely injured people.

A total of fifty-five people were injured in the accident, fifty-two of which were the bus passengers and the additional three people were in other vehicles that were involved in the accident and got hit by the bus.

The people injured in the accident mostly had minor injuries and a very few people had major injuries. The others just got moderately injured. There was no child involved in the accident and only adults that were of ages between 60 to 80 years were injured.

From the injured people, only five remained in the hospital until Thursday night. One of them was an 86-year-old man whose ribs got broken in the accident.

One of the passenger’s sons told NBC4 that before the crash, his mother feared the high speed at which the driver was driving the bus. Steven Zhang said that his mother told him that right before the accident, his mother was talking to the person sitting next to her about the fast speed of the bus, and that’s when the bus crashed. And after the crash she went into a state of shock. She could not remember anything because of the sudden crash.

The Southern California freeway was shut down because of the accident. Because the road was all blocked, the people in the cars took the chance to get out of the cars and witness the injured people going to the hospital on stretchers. A tow vehicle was used to pull the bus from the ditch.

A casino spokesman said that the bus belonged to the Monterey Park’s Da Zhen, which is a Chinese tour bus that offers day trips to casinos in Las Vegas and California, and was heading towards the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. It was about to reach the casino at 10:30 a.m. on a day trip.

NBC4 found out through investigations that the company had safety violations.

Saul Gomez said that it would not be appropriate to determine any conclusion too early about the how the accident occurred. CHO’s Lt. Mark Garrett will thoroughly investigate the causes of the accident.