The New York Post reports that on Saturday, March 12, 2011, tragedy struck on Interstate 95 near the Hutchinson Parkway exit ramp in the Bronx as a bus filled with 31 passengers slammed into a guardrail, capsized on its side and plowed 480 feet into a freeway signpost that severed most of the roof.
Officials say that most of the passengers aboard the 1999 World Wide Travel bus were sleeping as it headed to Chinatown from the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Bronx bus accident happened at 5:35 a.m.
Nine men and six women, most of them Chinese-Americans, were killed in the Bronx bus accident, while 13 were injured, five of them critically.
Officials have recovered the bus’ black box in hopes to reveal if the driver, Ophadell Williams, 40, of Brooklyn, was speeding. Surveillance video aboard the bus should indicate if he fell asleep at the wheel, or if his initial claim that he was hit by an 18-wheeler is in fact true.
The truck driver, whose tractor-trailer is being inspected for damage, claimed he was behind the bus, not alongside it. He reported seeing the bus weave from lane to lane before it swerved off the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. Police sources say that initial inspections of the rig showed no signs of a collision with the bus, but will be checked more closely.
Passengers aboard the bus claim that Williams had dozed off several times before the bus went out of control.
Williams passed a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the accident.
If you’ve been involved in a Bronx bus accident, it is important to speak to an experienced bus accident attorney (Bronx) immediately. Call 1 800 LAW INFO or fill out the form on this page. A bus accident lawyer (Bronx) at our firm can help you understand your legal rights.
