1 killed, multiple people hurt as bus carrying children crashes on New York highway

WAWAYANDA, N.Y. (AP) — A charter bus carrying schoolchildren crashed on a New York highway and went down an embankment Thursday, killing one person and hurting multiple other people, police said.

The wreck happened on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda, about 45 miles northwest of New York City, state police said.

The bus was carrying students from Long Island to a band camp in Pennsylvania, according to a message sent to several local news outlets by the Farmingdale Union Free School District.

Video taken from news helicopters showed the bus lying on its side in trees and shrubs yards off the road in the median between the westbound and eastbound sides of the highway.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus told WNBC-TV that there were around 45 people on the bus, mostly children. He said at least five people were badly hurt. The crash happened around 1:20 p.m.

News footage showed emergency vehicles on the highway, which was closed in both directions.