NYC-bound bus crashes in Va., killing 4

BOWLING GREEN, Va. -- A bus run by a company with a record of safety problems overturned on a Virginia highway early Tuesday, killing four people and injuring several others en route to Chinatown in Manhattan.

The driver, Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, of Flushing, faces a reckless-driving charge and police say fatigue was a factor in the crash along Interstate 95. The company, SkyExpress, offers cheap fares, and federal records show that its buses have been involved in several accidents over the last two years. It also has been cited for 46 violations of drivers being fatigued over that same time.

Late Tuesday, federal officials grounded SkyExpress, citing multiple safety violations.

The bus swerved off northbound I-95, hit an embankment and flipped about 30 miles north of Richmond. Fifty-four people were taken to hospitals and treated for minor to severe injuries.

The bus left Greensboro, N.C., Monday night with 58 passengers, police said. The driver is being held in jail on $3,000 bond, and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

SkyExpress offered its condolences to the families of the four women killed and said it would cooperate fully in the investigation. "This is the first serious accident" involving its buses, the company said. "The bus driver has never before been involved in an accident."