Four people are dead and many others injured after a double-decker bus travelling to Toronto from Philadelphia crashed in central New York.

The Coach USA-operated vehicle, known as a Megabus, was carrying 28 passengers, including four Canadians, when it crashed around 2:30 a.m. on the Onondaga Lake Parkway in Salina, a Syracuse suburb some 400 kilometres east of Toronto. Officials confirm 24 people were taken to hospital.

Canada's Foreign Affairs department says no Canadians were among the dead or seriously injured in the crash. At least seven Canadians, all from Ontario, were among the 28 passengers on the Megabus, which was bound for Toronto.

“All of a sudden there was a big crash and I fell over, was thrown over people and then it was all quiet,” said 71-year-old Vicky Reed from Dundas, Ont., who was travelling on the bus with her husband. She suffered a knee injury from the crash.

“The front of the bus had been pushed back just like an accordion.”

Reed said the four passengers that were killed were seated near the top-right of the bus. She recalled one woman with blood on her face and another trapped under a piece of metal who was moaning in pain.

The driver, said Reed, emerged from a cloud of concrete dust, injured but alive.

“His face looked like it had been cut with razor blades, he couldn’t understand what happened, he was very in shock,” she said.

Megabus is a European-based brand and offers “no-frills” low-cost trips on double-decker buses between Toronto and cities in New York State including Syracuse, Buffalo and New York City, as well as Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

Don Carmichael, senior vice-president for Coach USA, said early reports on what may have caused the crash are “very sketchy”.

He said the bus should have been on Interstate-81 when heading into Syracuse.

“He was off the prescribed route,” said Carmichael, who was in the midst of travelling to the crash from Ottawa. “And we don’t know at this time why he was off the prescribed route.”

Carmichael has not had a chance to speak with the driver yet because he and all of the passengers on board were taken to hospital. Some have been released but others are still being treated for serious injuries, he said.

The Post Standard newspaper of Syracuse reported that, according to Onondaga sheriff’s deputy Herb Wiggins, the driver of the bus suffered head injuries and was speaking to investigators.

The newspaper also reported Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh as saying the dead were three men, including one 19-year-old from Kansas, and a female in her late teens or early twenties. Two were from other countries.

Police in New York say three of the dead were men, the fourth a woman in her late teens or early 20s.

Walsh said there was no indication of alcohol or drugs.

Darryl Geddes, a spokesperson from Upstate University Hospital, said the hospital went into “trauma mode”, treating 15 individuals, one of whom was in critical condition.

A nursing supervisor from nearby Crouse Hospital confirmed six people were transported to their emergency room. Two have been admitted under serious condition. Three have been treated and released, and one is still being looked at.

The American Red Cross was on the scene shortly after the accident and deployed mental health counselors to the hospitals where passengers were taken. The Red Cross has also opened a reception centre in a local hotel for anyone affected by the crash.

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Carmichael also confirmed that Coach USA is dealing with the surviving passengers on a case-by-case basis, putting up those who want to stay in Syracuse, while making travel arrangements for others who want to return to Philadelphia or Toronto.

Authorities with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department say the bus seems to have flipped after it hit a railroad bridge that was too low. There are signs on the parkway, as well as flashing lights, to warn drivers that the bridge is 10 feet, 9 inches high. The bus is more than 12 feet tall.

The bus left Philadelphia at 10 p.m. Friday and was supposed to arrive in Toronto early Saturday. It had scheduled stops in Syracuse and Buffalo along the way. The crash shut down the Onondaga Lake Parkway.

The crash has raised questions about Megabus’s safety standards.

In December, a Megabus on its way to Toronto crashed near Buffalo, leaving passengers stranded for seven hours. New York State Police said the driver, who was ticketed for failing remain in his lane, was drowsy.

Just weeks earlier, another Megabus, travelling between New York City and Toronto overturned after it went off Interstate-90, also near Buffalo. Thirteen people were injured. Police said they believed the driver made an unsafe lane change.

“Most of those incidents were snow-related — Certainly nothing to the extent of this,” said Carmichael.

“In fact, the Megabus incidents we’ve had in the past, the vehicle itself has performed extremely well and any of the driver situations have been dealt with.”

Carmichael refused to chalk up Saturday’s crash to careless driving, instead saying that Megabus drivers have very extensive safety training they must complete.

The driver of the crumpled bus had only been a Megabus driver since July 21, when the company began its Philadelphia-to-Toronto route. He has been a regular driver of that route, having driven it nine times.

Carmichael said it was too soon in the investigation to know if the driver will lose his job or face disciplinary action for his role in the crash.

“Megabus’s safety rating in the States is of the highest standard,” said Carmichael. “Our record speaks for itself.”

With files from The Canadian Press