Police release names of those killed in tour bus rollover crash on New York State Thruway

Three New Jersey residents and a Columbia University college student were among the five people killed when a tour bus flipped on Interstate 90 in Western New York on Friday afternoon, police said.

College student Xie Hongzhuo, 22, of China; Zhang Xiaolan, 55, of Jersey City; Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City; Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of India; and Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey, all died at the scene, according to the New York State Police.

The bus driver, Bin Shao, 55, of Flushing, Queens, told investigators that he became distracted while driving on the eastbound side of the highway between Exits 48A and 49 in Pembroke, 25 miles east of Buffalo.

As the tour bus drifted off the road, Shao abruptly overcorrected, causing the vehicle to overturn and roll down an embankment on the side of the highway, police said.

They did not say what distracted the driver. Investigators said there was no mechanical problem with the bus before the crash and that Shao showed no signs that he had been using drugs or alcohol or had a medical issue. He appeared to be uninjured and has not been charged.

Most of the 54 people on the bus, which was returning to New York City from a trip to Niagara,  were injured, police said.

A number of passengers, who police said were not wearing seat belts, were thrown from the vehicle or trapped in the wreckage.

The survivors were taken to hospitals for treatment.

New York State requires the use of seat belts on tour buses built on or after Nov. 28, 2016, a law passed in response to the 2023 crash of a charter bus that was taking Farmingdale High School students, staff and supporters to a band camp.

It was unclear when the bus involved in Friday's crash was built.

M&Y Tour Inc., the company that owns the bus, has not had an accident or fatality in two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The company has a “satisfactory” safety rating.