A tour bus from a Flushing-based company – Big Boy Coach, Inc. – crashed on Interstate 93, injuring 23, in Littleton, New Hampshire, on Monday, March 21, authorities said.
Five sustained serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries, said Lt. Todd Landry from the New Hampshire State Police. Released Tuesday morning were 11 individuals treated for lesser injuries and seven treated for minor injuries.
The bus was travelling to Boston from Quebec and carried vacationers from Korea. The injured were brought to various local hospitals.
The on-going police investigation revealed that the road was slippery because of a recent snowstorm. The driver lost control of the vehicle and rolled onto its side and into the highway median. The actual cause of the crash is still being determined, police said.
The company managing the tour is PRT Tours of Ridgefield, New Jersey, police said.
The crash is the third tour bus crash in the northeast in the past month. The last major crash occurred on I-95 in the Bronx on March 12, when 15 were killed after a bus driving toward Manhattan was ripped apart after smashing into a sign pole.
Two days later, another tour bus traveling from Chinatown to Philadelphia crashed on the New Jersey turnpike, killing a passenger and the driver, who was from Forest Hills.
Amid the recent string of collisions, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer wrote to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to audit the licenses of drivers operating low-cost buses. Published reports showed the driver of the I-95 crash had previous license suspensions, speeding violations and used an alias on at least one occasion.
“There is a real worry that some of these low-cost companies are cutting corners on safety and a thorough review of all the drivers of firms operating in this market can answer the questions that must be answered,” said Schumer.
Big Boy Coach Inc. could not be immediately reached for comment.
