Tire crashes through bus windshield on LIE in Hauppauge

Four people aboard a Hampton Jitney bus suffered cuts from broken glass Wednesday morning after a tire flew off a car on the Long Island Expressway - and crashed through the bus windshield.

The freak accident took place at 8:25 a.m. between Exit 56 and Exit 57, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office said.

The front right tire came off an eastbound car, flew over a concrete divider and went through the windshield of the westbound bus.

A spokeswoman for the bus company, Hampton Jitney, told The Associated Press 19 people were aboard the bus, which was booked for a private tour of an upstate culinary institute.

Westbound traffic was backed up through the area when sheriffs closed the HOV lane at Exit 57 in Islandia.

The road was reopened by midmorning.

The sheriff's office said the accident remains under investigation and it is not clear how the tire came off the car. The extent of the injuries are unknown, though officials believe none of them are serious.