Esteban Parra and robin brown

The News Journal

Two women were killed and 48 other people injured Sunday when a New York-based tour bus crashed on a Del. 1 exit ramp at Tybouts Corner east of Red Lion, authorities said. One person remained in critical condition Monday morning.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting an investigation, looking into safety issues that contributed to the accident. This would include looking into the motor carrier's operating history, the drivers and the roadway.

According to state crash data, there were seven crashes on the ramp curve from 2005 to 2012. Three of the accidents involved injury, but none were fatalities.

The NSTB's investigation is independent of the ongoing Delaware State Police probe, which has so far determined that neither drugs nor alcohol were a factor in the accident.

Investigators have been interviewing the driver of the bus that was heading from Washington, D.C., to New York, where the tour began Friday, state police Sgt. Paul Shavack said Monday.

"We're trying to determine why he was on that route. What decisions he made to end up on Route 1 and at U.S. 13 northbound," he said, adding the driver, who remains hospitalized, was cooperating.

Shavack said some motorists may take this road to get onto I-295 rather than staying on a congested I-95.

The southbound bus, owned by AM USA Express, left the roadway on the exit for northbound U.S. 13, crashing about 4:20 p.m., Delaware State Police said.

Debris from Sunday's accident remained at the scene Monday morning. Food, including bananas, cookies and even a tray containing chopsticks, was found near tire tracks dug deep into the dirt shoulder. There also were some clothing items, including shoes, a sweater and denim jacket, as well as glass and medical supplies.

Small trees, with damage at their base, could be seen pushed over.

"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 fatality 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 had been admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. He described the injuries as not life-threatening. No charges have been filed.

Zhao was wearing a seat belt, Shavack said.

He said troopers arriving on the scene provided first aid to victims until medics arrived.

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 as a stream of ambulances arrived and removed victims.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by state police as well as the NTSB, 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.

Monday morning, Christiana Care spokesman Hiran Ratnayake said there were 20 patients from the tour bus crash being treated at Christiana Hospital. This includes patients from Christiana's other facilities which are now at the main hospital and others transferred from St. Francis Hospital.

Only one patient remained in critical condition, he said. Seven were in serious condition, 10 in fair and two in good condition.

Injuries varied, including head trauma, neck injuries and cracked ribs, emergency physician Rob Rosenbaum said Sunday night.

Other adults were taken to Wilmington and St. Francis hospitals and the Middletown Emergency Department of Christiana Care and two children were taken to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland.

Sally Bittel Thomas, a St. Francis Hospital spokeswoman, said Monday morning the Wilmington hospital received 10 patients Sunday. Some have been released, but she did not have a count. She did not have conditions of those remaining.

Of the least injured, about five were expected to be released Sunday night at Christiana Hospital, he said. Seven patients from Wilmington Hospital and three from the Middletown ER also were to be released Sunday.

The body of the woman killed in the crash was taken to the state Division of Forensic Sciences for identification and autopsy, Shavack said.

Based on preliminary investigation of the crash, he said, state police had not "heard of any witnesses, except for those on the bus."

Police do not believe any other vehicles were involved in the crash.

State police were not immediately able to identify the owner of the blue and white bus because it bore no company name or logo.

Heavy equipment, including a crane, was brought to the scene Sunday evening to right the wrecked bus, as state police collected passengers' pocketbooks, bags and suitcases to log and protect them, he said.

By 7 p.m., traffic began to move slowly past the area on U.S. 13, but both directions of Del. 1 remained closed.

Both directions of Del. 1 reopened about 10 p.m. Sunday, but the investigation continued.

Shavack said, "It's going to be a long night."

Were you at the crash scene or affected by it in traffic? Upload your photos to http://www.delawarenline.com/ share or email to newsdesk@delawareonline.com.

Staff reporter Matthew Albright contributed to this article.



Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @eparra3.



Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.

