DFA says three Filipinos in New York tour bus crash discharged; survivor recalls climbing out of wreckage
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Aug. 25 said the three Filipinos who survived a tour bus crash on an upstate New York highway on Aug. 22 have all been discharged.
In a statement, the DFA said they've been “medically cleared” and were “confirmed to be safe."
The agency added that the Philippine Consulate General in New York would “meet them to ascertain their needs and ensure their welfare until their scheduled departure.”
Richard Robles, 38, told The New York Times how he climbed out of the wreckage of the incident that killed five people and injured dozens of others.
“My mindset was to get off the bus,” Robles said, adding he saw “so much blood. So much wounds.”
Robles lives in Qatar, but was among the 54 passengers of the white long bus en route from Niagara Falls to New York City.
The accident took place on Interstate 90, part of the New York State Thruway, in Pembroke town, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of Buffalo city, on Friday afternoon.
As Robles got out, he said he was taken to a nearby hospital.
He had sustained only a minor injury and was discharged later at night.
A friend who was with him, meanwhile, sustained a head injury and was released on Saturday morning.
Robles, who was staying at a hotel in Amherst City, which was about 40 km (25 miles) from the crash site, told the Times that he and his friends were coordinating how to get back to New York City.
He said they planned to travel via train or airplane.
The tour bus driver, identified as Bin Shao, 55, said he lost control while the bus was moving at "full speed," causing the vehicle to career into the median and then flip over. No other vehicles were involved.
He's cooperating with investigators, and the police were in contact with the bus company, which wasn't publicly named.
Several passengers were trapped in the wreckage and had to be rescued, while others were ejected from the bus as it rolled across the highway before landing on its side in a ditch along the road’s shoulder.
Andre Ray, New York state police commander major, said Shao became "distracted, lost control, over corrected and ended up... over there."
"Mechanical error was ruled out as well as impairment or intoxication," Ray said, adding that no charges had been brought against Shao.
Though there were five casualties, no children were among them, contradicting an earlier police briefing stating there was one.